United States Eighth Circuit

A conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm is affirmed over a claim of erroneous denial of a motion to suppress where: 1) an officer's ordering defendant-passenger to reenter the stopped vehicle during a traffic stop was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment, as the minimal intrusion on defendant's personal liberty was outweighed by the safety concerns of the officer; and 2) consequently, a gun found in defendant's pocket was not the product of an illegal search.

Appellate Information

• Decided 12/20/2007
• Published 12/20/2007

Judges

• BOWMAN, Circuit Judge., Before BYE, BOWMAN, and SMITH, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Eighth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Stephen C. Moss, Asst. Fed. Public Defender, Kansas City, MO, argued (Raymond C. Conrad, Jr., Fed. Public Defender, on the brief), for appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• John F. Wood, U.S. Atty., Kansas City, MO, argued (Philip M. Koppe, Asst. U.S. Atty., Kansas City, MO, on the brief), for appellee.