United States Tenth Circuit

Denial of a motion to suppress evidence in a prosecution for being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition is reversed and remanded where: 1) a warrantless protective sweep of defendant's home after he had been handcuffed and removed to the porch may have been impermissible because defendant had not yet been arrested when the sweep was conducted, for purposes of being incident-to-arrest; but 2) a remand is necessary to determine whether the sweep was proper under the exigent-circumstances doctrine based on a threat to the victim's safety.

Appellate Information

• Decided 01/31/2007
• Published 02/01/2007

Judges

• HARTZ, Circuit Judge., Before HARTZ, ANDERSON, and McCONNELL, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Tenth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• Charles A. Harwood, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Las Cruces, NM, for Defendant-Appellant., David Williams, Assistant United States Attorney, (David C. Iglesias, United States Attorney, and Laura Fashing, Assistant United States Attorney, on the brief), Albuquerque, NM, for Plaintiff-Appellee.