United States v. Vandergroen, No. 19-10075 (9th Cir. 2020)
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The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of defendant's motion to suppress evidence found during a search that followed a 911 call and the stop of defendant's car. Defendant was subsequently convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The panel held that the totality of the circumstances in this case demonstrates that the 911 call was sufficiently reliable to support reasonable suspicion. Furthermore, the 911 call gave the police reason to suspect defendant was carrying a concealed firearm, which is presumptively a crime in California. Therefore, the 911 call generated reasonable suspicion justifying the stop and the district court was correct to deny defendant's motion to suppress the evidence obtained during the stop.
Court Description: Criminal Law The panel affirmed the district court’s denial of a motion to suppress evidence found during a search that followed a 911 call and the stop of the defendant’s car, in a case in which the defendant was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The panel held that the 911 call generated reasonable suspicion justifying the stop, where the identified caller using an emergency line was reliable, the reports by three other persons conveyed by the caller contained sufficient indicia of reliability, and the reported activity—possessing a concealed weapon—was presumptively unlawful in California and ongoing. The panel addressed other issues in a concurrently filed memorandum disposition.
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