Suppression of Evidence-Unlawful Search

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Prentiss Jackson

Case No.: 23-1708

Officials: Brennan, Scudder, and Lee, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Suppression of Evidence-Unlawful Search

An Urbana, Illinois, police officer pulled over a car just after midnight because its head and taillights were not lit. During the traffic stop, the officer smelled unburnt marijuana. He asked the driver, Prentiss Jackson, to exit the car and told Jackson he would search him and the vehicle. Soon after leaving the car, Jackson ran. While fleeing, a gun fell from his waistband.

Jackson was indicted for possessing a firearm as a felon. He moved to suppress evidence of the gun, arguing it was the product of an unlawful search. The district court denied Jackson’s motion. He conditionally pleaded guilty, was convicted, and now appeals the denial of his motion to suppress.

The Seventh Circuit ruled that the central issue in this case is the legality of the officer ordering Jackson out of the car for a search. Mimms tells us that after a lawful stop, an officer can order occupants out of a car, see 434 U.S. at 111, and the totality of circumstances here supported probable cause for a search. In any event, the smell of unburnt marijuana provided probable cause. After exiting the vehicle, Jackson chose to run, where a firearm fell from his pants. The district court correctly concluded that evidence of the gun need not be suppressed.

Affirmed.

Decided 06/04/24

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