United States v. Swinney, No. 21-1006 (7th Cir. 2022)
Annotate this Case
An anonymous woman called 911 to report a man carrying a gun, "a 45,” wearing blue jeans, white gym shoes, a black skullcap, and a black coat with fur around the collar. She stated that the man had his hand in his right coat pocket "with a gun in it” and exclaimed that he “just walked into the liquor store.” The call was recorded; the caller’s cell phone number was captured by the system. The dispatcher stated “no number on the callback" and identified the man as black although the caller had not said so. Minutes later, Chicago Police Department officers entered the liquor store. They saw Swinney near the register, wearing a black coat with a fur-trimmed hood, a black skullcap, blue jeans, and white sneakers. The officers patted him down and found a loaded .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol in Swinney’s right coat pocket. In Illinois, it is a crime to carry a firearm on a public street and in any place that is licensed to sell alcohol.
Swinney was charged with possessing a firearm as a felon, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). The Seventh Circuit affirmed the denial of his motion to suppress the gun as the fruit of an illegal search. The police had reasonable suspicion to conduct a Terry stop; the anonymous tip reliably reported criminal activity.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.