Motion to Suppress

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Randy Johnson

Case No.: 15-1366

Officials: FLAUM, EASTERBROOK, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Motion to Suppress

Cops commit harmless error in search of vehicle leading to arrest for possession of firearm.

“We grant that the police did more than just stroll up: two squad cars, which bathed the parked car in bright light, im‐ plied that the occupants were not free to drive away. But as it happened the number of cars, and the use of lights, did not play a role in the causal sequence. (The cruisers’ lights may have played some role by supplementing the streetlamps, but Johnson does not contend that shining light into a car on a public street is unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment. See Dunn, 480 U.S. at 305.) No one was in the driver’s seat, so the parked car could not drive away, no matter what the occu‐ pants wanted or thought they were free to do. A lone officer who ambled up amiably and shone a flashlight through the window would have seen everything needed to set up a law‐ ful seizure of the gun. When the contested activity (here, the show of force through the use of two cars and bright lights) does not matter, it is also not a basis for suppressing evidence. When discovery would have occurred anyway, through proper means, the exclusionary rule would be overkill and must not be employed. See, e.g., Nix v. Williams, 467 U.S. 431, 444 (1984).”

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner 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.