U.S. v. Dickson

In prosecution on charge of unlawful possession of firearm by felon, Dist. Ct. did not err in denying defendant’s motion to suppress firearm seized in plain view from defendant’s car, after police had responded to report that two individuals were sleeping in defendant’s running car that was parked in McDonald’s drive-thru. While defendant argued that police did not discover gun that was lodged between driver’s seat and center console until he had been unlawfully seized, police had reasonable suspicion to detain defendant under Terry, 392 US 1, where officer observed open bottle of vodka and passed-out defendant sitting behind steering wheel. Moreover, firearm would have been admissible under inevitable discovery doctrine, where officer reasonably ordered defendant out of car to pursue investigation for drunk driving or having open container of alcohol, and where officer would have discovered gun once defendant got out of driver’s seat. Ct. further remanded case for limited purpose of re-writing two impermissibly vague conditions of supervised release requiring defendant to remain in unspecified jurisdiction and to notify third parties of unspecified risks.