United States v. Hawkins, No. 15-1894 (8th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseDefendant was convicted of being a felon in possession of two firearms and subsequently appealed the district court's denial of his pretrial motion to suppress the firearms during the two searches. The court affirmed the denial of defendant's motion to suppress evidence seized in the first search where defendant cites no case - and the court has found none - ruling that a threat to search and a reach transformed a Terry stop into an arrest. In this case, the officers’ threat to perform a protective search, when they had reasonable suspicion that defendant was armed and dangerous, coupled with a reach, did not transform the lawful Terry stop into a full-blown arrest. In regard to the second search, the court concluded that the district court did not err when it ruled that the officers had probable cause to arrest defendants and to conduct a search incident to arrest that uncovered the firearm. The arresting officers knew that defendant had prior actual oral notice that he could not lawfully enter or remain on the LU campus. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
Court Description: Loken, Author, with Riley, Chief Judge, and Benton, Circuit Judge] Criminal case - Criminal law. Campus police officers' threat to perform a protective search, when they had reasonable suspicion that defendant was armed and dangerous, coupled with a reach towards his person did not transform the lawful Terry stop into full-blown arrest and the district court did not err in denying defendant's motion to suppress; with respect to a second arrest and search, the officers knew defendant had been given an oral warning not to come on the university campus and they had probable cause to arrest defendant for trespassing and to conduct a search incident to arrest.
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