U.S. v. Howard

In prosecution on unlawful possession of firearm charges, as well as charge of stealing wireless phones in interstate commerce by means of actual or threatened force, Dist. Ct. did not err in suppressing evidence seized from defendant’s home pursuant to search warrant, even though defendant had argued that police lacked probable to support issuance of search warrant under circumstances where police had previously stopped defendant’s vehicle shortly after robbery of store and observed no evidenced of robbery in said car. Issuance of warrant was supported by probable cause, where record further showed that defendant’s vehicle had been observed for period of time in store’s parking lot, then going to rear of store at time when robbery occurred, and then speeding off at high rate immediately after said robbery. As such, police could have properly viewed that vehicle acted as decoy in said robbery, and Ct. of Appeals rejected defendant’s contention that issuance of search warrant lacked probable cause because actions taken by occupants in vehicle could be construed as innocent behavior.