United States v. Winarske, No. 12-2641 (8th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CaseDefendant appealed the judgment of the district court following the denial of his motion to suppress evidence seized during a search of his girlfriend's vehicle. Defendant was convicted of possessing a firearm. The court concluded, given the totality of the circumstances in this case, that it was reasonable for law enforcement to believe that there was at least a probability or substantial chance of criminal activity occurring when defendant arrived at the place and time designated by an informant to transact a firearm sale. Accordingly, the court found that defendant's warrantless arrest was supported by probable cause. The court also concluded that the police in this case had probable cause to believe that defendant's girlfriend's vehicle contained contraband, namely the firearm. Further, the court affirmed the district court's finding that defendant's post-Miranda admission to police about the location of the weapon in the vehicle provided an independent basis to find probable cause to conduct a search. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
Court Description: Criminal case - Criminal law. Based on information provided by an informant, officers had probable cause to arrest defendant for illegally possessing a firearm; the officers had ample cause to believe the informant was reliable since he had provided accurate information in the past, officers had verified certain information he had provided regarding defendant, and defendant had shown up at the time and in the location the informant had set for a firearm deal; search of defendant's girlfriend's vehicle was constitutional as officers had reasonable cause to believe it contained evidence of the offense.
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