Unlawful-stop Claim – Reasonable Suspicion

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Napoleon Jackson, et al.,

Case No.: 19-2928; 19-3153

Officials: FLAUM, HAMILTON, and ST. EVE, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Unlawful-stop Claim – Reasonable Suspicion

Does an air freshener hanging from a rearview mirror obstruct the driver’s clear view? A Chicago police officer believed that, in this case, it did. That officer pulled over Napoleon Jackson and his passenger Kittrell Freeman for violating a provision of the Chicago municipal code prohibiting any object obstructing the driver’s clear view through the windshield. Officers subsequently recovered three firearms from the vehicle and Jackson and Freeman were each charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. Jackson and Freeman moved to suppress the evidence for lack of probable cause to conduct the traffic stop based on their argument that the officer erroneously believed that there could not be anything hanging from the rearview mirror, regardless of whether it obstructed the driver’s view. The district court denied the motion, finding that an officer could reasonably conclude that the air freshener obstructed the clear view and thus supported probable cause to conduct a traffic stop. Jackson and Freeman both pleaded guilty while preserving their rights to appeal the suppression ruling.

Though the district court couched its analysis in terms of probable cause, all that is required for a traffic stop is reasonable suspicion. Even so, because the officer had an articulable and objective basis for suspecting that the air freshener obstructed Jackson’s clear view in violation of the city municipal code, the stop was lawful. The district court correctly denied the motion to suppress and we affirm the judgment.

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.