Suppression of Evidence-Lawful Search

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Arnez Salazar

Case No.: 22-2696

Officials: Ripple, St. Eve, and Pryor, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Suppression of Evidence-Lawful Search

On January 14, 2022, Salazar was at a bar in Peoria, Illinois. He posted a video of himself online, which Peoria police officers saw. Knowing Salazar had an active arrest warrant for traffic violations, five officers went to the bar to arrest him. The bar’s security cameras and the officers’ body-worn cameras captured the events that ensued.

When police officers arrested Arnez Salazar, they searched his nearby jacket and found a gun. In the subsequent prosecution for possessing a firearm illegally, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), Salazar unsuccessfully moved to suppress the gun. The district court ruled that the police had conducted a valid search incident to arrest because Salazar could reach the jacket (and gun) and, in any event, he had abandoned the jacket. Salazar pleaded guilty but reserved the right to appeal the denial of his motion to suppress. On appeal, he argues that the district court erred by finding that he could reach the gun and had abandoned the jacket. The Seventh Circuit concludes that the search was a lawful search incident to Salazar’s arrest and therefore affirm.

Affirmed.

Decided 06/02/23

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