U.S. v. Williams

In prosecution on unlawful possession of firearm charge, Dist. Ct. erred in denying defendant’s motion to suppress firearm seized from defendant during encounter in which defendant, along with others, were stopped and searched in parking lot, after police had received anonymous tip from individual claiming that group of 25 individuals had congregated in parking lot and were acting loudly and displaying handguns. Record showed that group had shrunk to eight to ten individuals by time police had arrived on scene, and Ct. found that officers could properly stop said individuals based on information contained in tip, as well as fact that parking lot was located in known crime area. However, officer could not subsequently frisk defendant based only on fact that defendant avoided eye contact with officer, had his hands in his pocket or waist area, and had started to walk away upon officer’s arrival, since there was nothing in defendant’s behavior that indicated that he had weapon or posed some danger to officers. (Partial dissent filed.)