U.S. v. Alexander

In prosecution on charge of unlawful possession of firearm by felon, Dist. Ct. did not err in denying defendant’s motion to suppress police’s warrantless seizure of firearm under circumstances, where: (1) police observed via surveillance camera individual give defendant handgun on public street, and defendant placed handgun in his front waistband approximately five seconds later; (2) instant gun hand-off occurred while large group had congregated in area; (3) when police arrived, they noticed defendant step behind individual and move toward metal fence that blocked his path away from officers; and (4) defendant pushed against fence, but soon his arms were grabbed by police, who frisked defendant and recovered handgun. While defendant argued that police lacked probable cause to arrest him at time of search, Dist. Ct. could properly find that probable cause existed, where: (1) police had observed defendant violate Ill. Firearm Concealed Carry Act when he openly carried firearm on public street; and (2) defendant tried to evade police upon their arrival at scene.