Search & Seizure

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Criminal

7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Officials: POSNER and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges, and WOOD, District Judge

Search & Seizure

No. 14-2982 USA v. Dontray A. Smith

Police officers’ blocking of appellants path in an alleyway constituted a seizure.

“The government would have us believe that a “reasonable person” would view this encounter in a manner at odds with how it would be classified by the Milwaukee Police Department’s Standard Operating Procedures, how the officers viewed the encounter, and obviously how Smith him‐ self perceived it. We simply cannot ignore the coercive nature of this encounter. Of course, the subjective beliefs and intent of the officers are relevant to the assessment of the Fourth Amendment implications of police conduct only to the extent they have been conveyed to the person confront‐ ed. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. at 554, n. 6. But in this case, we find that Officers Flannery and Michalski intended to and in fact did communicate to Smith precisely what was going on— that he was a suspect in their investigation and was not free to leave before submitting to their questioning. “

Vacated and Remanded

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing attorney at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.