United States Fourth Circuit

Conviction of defendant for possession of a firearm by an alien and possession of a firearm in a school zone is affirmed where: 1) defendant's claim that there was not reasonable suspicion to support her detention because she neither associated with known criminals nor lingered in a high-crime area is rejected; 2) in light of defendant's actions, an officer concluded that she was more than casually connected to the group of males that he reasonably suspected was preparing for retaliation, and the decision to stop her was justified based on that reasonable suspicion; and 3) a reasonable officer generally, would have had reasonable suspicion that defendant possessed a weapon, thus justifying a frisk of her purse, and because the objective circumstances would have justified a frisk, the officer's impermissible subjective intent does not require suppression of the seized items.

Appellate Information

• Argued 09/24/2010
• Decided 11/29/2010
• Published 11/29/2010

Judges

• DAVIS

Court

• United States Fourth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Joanna Beth Silver, Adam Kenneth Ake