United States v. Sykes, No. 17-3221 (8th Cir. 2019)
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The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of defendant's motion to suppress evidence found during a stop and frisk. The court held that it was reasonable for the officer to stop defendant because he suspected that defendant, his companion, or both were carrying a concealed firearm. The court explained that, since a concealed-weapons permit was merely an affirmative defense under Iowa Code 724.4(1), an officer may presume that the suspect is committing a criminal offense until the suspect demonstrates otherwise. In this case, there was a report from a known person with whom the officer had an extensive discussion and who asserted that she found a loaded handgun magazine of unknown origins; she identified the only two people who had access to the location where the magazines were found; and thus it was reasonable to suspect that a person with loaded handgun magazines could have a handgun.
Furthermore, the officer could frisk defendant because defendant was lawfully stopped and the officer reasonably believed that defendant was armed with a gun. The court also held that the district court did not abuse its discretion by applying a sentencing enhancement under USSG 2K2.1(a), because defendant had previously committed a crime of violence: aggravated vehicular hijacking.
Court Description: Arnold, Author, with Wollman and Benton, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Criminal law. Under United States v. Pope, 910 F.3d 413 (8th Cir. 2018), a police officer in Iowa may briefly detain someone whom the officer reasonably believes possesses a concealed weapon; a concealed-weapons permit is a an affirmative defense under Iowa Code 724.4(1) and an officer may presume that the suspect is committing a criminal offense until the suspect demonstrates otherwise; based on the information provided the officer and the circumstances presented, the officer had a reasonable suspicion that defendant possessed a gun; defendant's Illinois conviction for aggravated vehicular hijacking, while armed with a firearm, qualified as a crime of violence. See Stokeling v. United States, 2019 WL 189343 (Jan. 15, 2019)
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