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Unlawful-stop Claim

By: Derek Hawkins//August 5, 2019//

Unlawful-stop Claim

By: Derek Hawkins//August 5, 2019//

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7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Paris Yancey

Case No.: 18-2935

Officials: KANNE, SYKES, and BRENNAN, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Unlawful-stop Claim

This case concerns a traffic stop in Rock Island, Illinois. While two police officers were arresting the driver of a vehicle on an outstanding warrant, they recognized defendant Paris Yancey riding shotgun. Based on their past interactions with Yancey, as well as their familiarity with a contact sheet labeling him as potentially armed, the officers decided to pat him down for weapons. Before they could do so, Yancey made a run for it. The officers tackled him and saw a handgun sticking out of his waistband. Yancey was subsequently convicted of felony possession of a firearm.

Yancey appeals the admission of the handgun evidence on Fourth Amendment grounds, claiming police lacked justification to keep him from leaving the scene. But under Supreme Court precedent, police officers can detain passengers in a car while a stop is ongoing if they have a lawful reason to seize the driver. It is undisputed that the officers lawfully stopped the car in which Yancey rode as a passenger. Because that stop was still lawfully ongoing when Yancey tried to flee, it was not unreasonable for the officers to detain him, so we affirm his conviction.

Affirmed

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Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Hawkins oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.

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