United States v. Mays, No. 15-2152 (7th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseMays left the scene of a fight, followed by an investigating officer who wanted to interview him about the altercation. Mays repeatedly declined to stop and talk to the officer, using “colorful and abusive language.” Observing Mays’s demeanor and suspecting that he might be armed, the officer told him to stop and touched his shoulder in order to keep a distance between the two. Mays’s manner of turning made the officer concerned for his safety, and he employed his already drawn Taser. A semi-automatic firearm fell to the ground. Mays ultimately was prosecuted for possession of a firearm by a felon, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). He pleaded guilty reserving the right to appeal the court’s denial of his motions to suppress the firearm, which he contended was the product of an illegal seizure, and to suppress a statement he had made to while he was in pretrial confinement. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. The officer’s stop was supported by reasonable suspicion as required by the Fourth Amendment. With respect to the statement, there was no independent violation of Mays’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel; there was no evidence that his waiver of his right to counsel was not voluntary, knowing, and intelligent.
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