CA10: Several “red flags” were reasonable suspicion barring § 1983 suit

There was reasonable suspicion for plaintiff’s detention, so the officer had a defense, and at least qualified immunity, to any § 1983 suit against him for the allegedly overlong stop. Arencibia v. Barta, 498 Fed. Appx. 773 (10th Cir. 2012)*:

Reasonable suspicion is based on the “totality of the circumstances.” United States v. Arvizu, 534 U.S. 266, 273 (2002). We do not evaluate factors, such as the “red flags” identified by Deputy Trammel, in a vacuum. Instead, we look at them as a whole, combined with the officer’s experience and training, to determine if he had a “particularized and objective basis” for suspecting illegal activity. Id. at 273. For example, in Bradford, we held that an officer had reasonable suspicion to detain a driver based on a set of factors, any one of which could have had an innocuous connotation: the presence of a cellular phone, luggage, and food wrappers; the driver’s nervousness; inconsistencies and improbabilities in the driver’s answers; and the driver’s one-way car rental. 423 F.3d at 1157.

Deputy Trammel identified multiple bases for his suspicion, which he told to Sergeant Metz before continuing his detention of Mr. Arencibia. These “red flags” included Mr. Arencibia’s excessive nervousness, see United States v. Contreras, 506 F.3d 1031, 1036 (10th Cir. 2007); United States v. Williams, 271 F.3d 1262, 1269 (10th Cir. 2001); the ghosting on the trailer; Mr. Arencibia’s decisions to haul a locked, empty trailer attached to a truck with known mechanical problems across the country; unusual circumstances surrounding the purchase of the truck; the EPIC report on Mr. Arencibia’s prior drug involvement, see United States v. Sandoval, 29 F.3d 537, 542 (10th Cir. 1994) (noting that prior criminal activity can give rise to reasonable suspicion if combined with other factors); and inconsistencies in the logbook, bill of lading, and weigh station tickets, see, e.g., United States v. Soto, 988 F.2d 1548, 1555-56 (10th Cir. 1993); United States v. Pena, 920 F.2d 1509, 1514 (10th Cir. 1990)). While any one of these “red flags,” if evaluated on its own, might not give rise to reasonable suspicion, the confluence of so many factors could give rise to suspicion that is “particularized and objective.” Arvizu, 534 U.S. at 273 (explaining that the combination of multiple, seemingly harmless, factors could create reasonable suspicion).

Having identified multiple factors pointing to reasonable suspicion, Deputy Trammel could not have been on notice that he was violating a clearly established constitutional right. …