U.S. v. Reedy

In prosecution on unlawful possession of firearm charge, Dist. Ct. did not err in denying defendant's motion to suppress shotgun found in defendant's vehicle, where two police officers encountered defendant in his vehicle after having received complaint that defendant was living in his car behind Goodwill store, and where: (1) defendant told police that he was waiting for third-party who was away in nearby neighborhood; and (2) police saw open knife, crowbar and walkie-talkie in plain view in defendant's vehicle. Record showed that defendant was told not to leave scene while other officer looked for and discovered third-party in nearby backyard, with walkie-talkie set to same channel as defendant's walkie-talkie, as well as bolt cutters, shotgun ammo and methamphetamine. While defendant argued that he was under arrest at time police told him he could not leave scene, and that police lacked probable cause to arrest him at that time, police could make Terry stop, since police had reasonable suspicion that defendant was involved in criminal activity based on what they saw in defendant's vehicle. Moreover, 90-minute delay, between time defendant was stopped and until time he was arrested after second officer encountered third-party, was reasonable, where police were diligent in pursuing investigation to confirm or dispel their suspicions about defendant's criminal activity. Also, police had probable cause to arrest defendant for possession of burglary tools in violation of Wisconsin law at time officer encountered third-party, which, in turn, allowed police to search defendant's vehicle.