Ninth Circuit Turns Fourth Amendment Analysis on Its Head
Tuesday, June 19th by Robert LoblawU.S. v. Washington, 06-30386 (9th Cir., June 19, 2007)
The Ninth Circuit issued a very interesting Fourth Amendment decision today, reversing a district court denial of a motion to suppress. The Court holds that the police unlawfully seized an African American defendant who consented to be searched during an otherwise suspicion-free investigative stop.
Often, Fourth Amendment decisions focus on whether the officers were reasonably concerned with their own safety, but today’s decision turns that standard analysis on its head. Specifically, in finding that a reasonable person would not feel free to leave, the Court focuses on whether the defendant had reason to fear for his safety in light of two well-publicized police shootings of African Americans during traffic stops in Portland. In response to these shootings, Portland police issued pamphlets instructing citizens to comply with officer instructions and consent to searches.
The panel reasons that this background of violence, together with other circumstances such as the fact that the street was dark and the defendant was outnumbered by police, establishes that the defendant had reason to fear that he would be harmed if he did not comply and therefore would not have felt free to decline the officers’ requests. Accordingly, his consent cannot be considered voluntary and the firearm that police subsequently found in his car must be suppressed.
