D.Nev.: On remand from USDJ, USMJ finds no RS for stop

Las Vegas ATF received information from The Gun Store [the one that advertizes it has a machine gun range on taxicabs] that defendant had bought a bunch of assault rifles with cash on a Sunday, and that the store tried to call ATF about the purchase as a “suspicious transaction” on Sunday but couldn’t raise anybody. They gave their surveillance video and paperwork on defendant. A couple of days later, they had a call that defendant was inquiring at another store about buying a 50 caliber Special Forces-type sniper rifle for $10,000 in cash. The purchase didn’t happen, but defendant was on the phone with somebody while looking at the gun, a fact indicative of a straw purchase. Then he showed at another store which called ATF about a suspicious transaction in the offing, and they stalled him until ATF arrived, and defendant was stopped in the parking lot. Defendant was detained on suspicion of being a straw purchaser to ship guns to Mexican drug cartels. He consented to a search of his car. That a reasonable explanation might exist does not negate reasonable suspicion. United States v. Carranza, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100951 (D. Nev. August 5, 2011),* motion granted on remand from district judge United States v. Carranza, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 151259 (D. Nev. October 28, 2011) (no reasonable suspicion for a stop under Nevada law and presence in a high crime area alone not reasonable suspicion). Posted originally here.