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Defendant Not Seized Until Cuffed

By Shari Allison

U.S. v. Martin, 2010 WL 2977721 (7/30/10) (Kan) (Published) - An affirmance of denial of a suppression motion. The officers had not seized the defendant until they placed him in handcuffs because, before that time, they had ordered him to place his hands on the wall, but instead he dropped his hands out of sight and said he had "something on" him. So, whether the seizure is proper must be judged from the time of the handcuffing, not at the time of the dubious order. By the time of the handcuffing, the officers had probable cause to arrest the defendant where: (1) 4 hours earlier someone had shot another person; (2) the assailant fled with the weapons he used; (3) the assailant was wearing a fur-lined winter coat; (4) the assailant was an African-American male who was called "Kalil" an aka of a "Michael Johnson"; (5) Johnson was known to be the boyfriend of Ora Hudnall; (6) she lived in a particular apartment building; (7) the defendant they encountered in that building's atrium was with Ms...continue to full post

Full post as published by Tenth Circuit Blog on August 04, 2010 (boomark / email).