US v. Julius B. Brown

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 8:12-cr-00525-GLR-1 Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [999193776].. [13-4307]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 13-4307

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
JULIUS B. BROWN,
Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
Maryland, at Greenbelt. George L. Russell, III, District Judge.
(8:12-cr-00525-GLR-1)

Submitted:

September 11, 2013

Decided:

September 16, 2013

Before MOTZ, DUNCAN, and DIAZ, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Hughie D. Hunt, II, KEMET & HUNT, LLC, College Park, Maryland,
for Appellant. Rod J. Rosenstein, United States Attorney, Jane
F.
Nathan,
Assistant
United
States
Attorney,
Greenbelt,
Maryland, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Julius

B.

Brown

appeals

from

his

conviction

and

sentence of twelve months of probation and a $430.00 fine for
driving

under

the

influence

of

alcohol,

in

violation

of

36

C.F.R. § 4.23(a)(1) (2013), and improper use of a cell phone, in
violation
Supp.

2012),

judge.
his

of

Md.

Code

Ann.,

following

his

Transp.
bench

§ 21-1124.2

trial

before

(LexisNexis

a

magistrate

Brown argues that the magistrate judge erred in denying

motion

traffic

to

stop.

suppress
The

the

fruits

Government

of

contends

his

seizure

that

we

during

should

a

not

consider the issue because Brown did not timely brief his appeal
to the district court under D. Md. Loc. R. 302.
3402 (2006); Fed. R. Crim. P. 58(g).

18 U.S.C. §

Although we assume for the

sake of this appeal that Brown’s failure to comply with the
district court’s local rules forfeited, rather than waived, the
issue of his seizure’s legality, we nonetheless affirm.
In a criminal case, forfeited issues are reviewed for
plain

error.

(1993).

United

States

v.

Olano,

507

U.S.

725,

733-34

To establish plain error, Brown must show that “an

error occurred, that the error was plain, and that the error
affected his substantial rights.”
478 F.3d 247, 249 (4th Cir. 2007).

United States v. Muhammad,
Even if Brown satisfies

these requirements, however, we retain discretion to correct the
error, which we will “not exercise unless the error seriously
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affects the fairness, integrity or public reputation of judicial
proceedings.”
omitted).

Id.

(internal

quotation

marks

and

alteration

if

they

Brown fails to meet this high standard.
Officers

may

make

a

traffic

stop

have

reasonable, articulable suspicion that a driver has committed a
traffic violation.

United States v. McBride, 676 F.3d 385, 391-

92 (4th Cir. 2012).

“A reasonable suspicion is demonstrated

when an officer is able to point to specific and articulable
facts which, taken together with rational inferences from those
facts,

evince

suspicion

or

more
hunch

than
of

an

inchoate

criminal

and

activity.”

unparticularized
United

States

v.

Ortiz, 669 F.3d 439, 444 (4th Cir. 2012) (internal quotation
marks omitted).

Our review of the record leads us to conclude

that the magistrate judge did not err, much less plainly so, in
finding that the officer had reasonable suspicion to stop Brown
and investigate whether the cause of his erratic driving might
be intoxication.
Accordingly, we affirm the denial of Brown’s motion to
suppress.
legal
before

We dispense with oral argument because the facts and

contentions
this

court

are

adequately

and

argument

presented

would

not

in
aid

the
the

materials
decisional

process.

AFFIRMED
3