United States Ninth Circuit

A court reviewing the reasonableness of a stop to investigate a past misdemeanor (or other minor infraction) must assess the potential risk to public safety associated with the nature of the offense. A conviction for a firearm-related offense is reversed where defendant's motion to suppress was erroneously denied as, under the circumstances here, it was unreasonable for police to pull over defendant on suspicion of having played his music too loudly where they did not duly consider the lack of any threat to public safety, especially given the untested alternative means of ascertaining defendant's identity.

Appellate Information

• Argued 03/06/2007
• Decided 08/22/2007
• Published 08/22/2007

Judges

• GOULD, Circuit Judge:, Before:  RONALD M. GOULD, RICHARD A. PAEZ, and JOHNNIE B. RAWLINSON, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• Thomas Monaghan, Federal Defenders of Eastern Washington and Idaho, Boise, ID, for defendant-appellant Justin Wells Grigg., Aaron N. Lucoff, Assistant United States Attorney, Boise, ID, for plaintiff-appellee the United States.