United States v. Lozano, No. 18-2265 (8th Cir. 2019)
Annotate this CaseThe Eighth Circuit reversed the district court's grant of defendant's motion to suppress. The district found that the encounter with law enforcement was not consensual at its inception and did not become consensual at any time before defendant's arrest. The court held, however, that the evidence in the record established that defendant's encounter with law enforcement was consensual and that he consented to the pat-down search. In this case, the pat-down down search was an objectively reasonable measure to protect officer safety and there was no Fourth Amendment violation.
Court Description: Erickson, Author, with Smith, Chief Judge, and Colloton, Circuit Judge] Criminal case - Criminal law. The government appeals an order suppressing a search on the ground defendant's encounter with law enforcement was not consensual at its inception and did not become consensual at any time before defendant's arrest; in considering whether the encounter was consensual under the seven non-exclusive factors courts should consider, the district court erred in placing extensive and virtually exclusive focus on defendant's high school age; the test for whether an person has been seized within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment is an objective standard, and while age and mental ability are considered in determining whether consent is voluntary, the standard is whether a reasonable person would have felt free to leave in determining whether a seizure occurred; applying that standard and the other non-exclusive factors, the court erred in determining defendant had been seized; pat-down search was an objectively reasonable measure to protect officer safety, and the gun found during the pat-down was admissible.
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