United States v. Stover, No. 14-4283 (4th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseDefendant was convicted of possession of a firearm as a felon and subsequently appealed the district court's denial of his motion to suppress the firearm. In this case, the officers activated their vehicle’s emergency lights, trained a spotlight on defendant, and drew their weapons. Considering the totality of the circumstances, no reasonable person in defendant's position would have felt free to terminate the encounter. Thus, the district court committed no error in finding that the officers demonstrated a show of authority sufficient to implicate the Fourth Amendment. The court held that, under controlling Supreme Court precedent, when an individual attempts to evade a seizure and reveals evidence or contraband prior to submission to police authority, the Fourth Amendment’s exclusionary rule does not apply. The court concluded that, under the totality of the facts as found by the district court in this case, walking away from police with a loaded gun in hand, in contravention of police orders, constitutes submission to police authority. Since defendant did not accede to police authority until confronted by an armed officer in front of the vehicle, the gun he discarded prior to that time was not the fruit of the seizure. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
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