STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. RASHON BRYANTÂ (14-09-2366, ESSEX COUNTY AND STATEWIDE), A-1530-15T1

Newark police approached a group on a sidewalk on Feb. 24, 2014; as officers neared, Bryant said “Oh shit” and dropped a cloth bag that made a metallic sound on impact.
Officers seized Bryant while he remained next to the bag, opened the bag, and discovered an unregistered handgun.
Bryant was indicted for second‑degree unlawful handgun possession and moved to suppress the gun as the fruit of an unlawful search/seizure.
He waived an evidentiary hearing and adopted the facts in the police report; the trial court denied suppression, finding abandonment.
Bryant pleaded guilty and appealed the denial of suppression; he argued he did not take an overt act of abandonment and officers created the separation by immediately apprehending him.
The Appellate Division reviewed the trial court’s totality‑of‑circumstances finding and affirmed denial of suppression.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether property was abandoned so police could lawfully search it	State: dropping the bag and exclaiming when seeing police indicated voluntary abandonment, eliminating expectation of privacy	Bryant: merely placing or dropping the bag next to him, or uttering an expletive, did not constitute abandonment; officers caused separation by apprehending him	Court: Affirmed — totality of circumstances (sighting police, exclamation, dropping bag with metallic sound) supported finding of abandonment
Whether precedents (Rios/Tucker) required suppression	State: cases are distinguishable because here the bag was dropped before any unlawful police action	Bryant: relies on Rios and Tucker to argue jettisoned items during police contact should be protected if police action precipitated the separation	Court: Distinguished Rios and Tucker; here defendant dropped the bag before police seizure, so precedents requiring suppression do not control

Rios v. United States, 364 U.S. 253 (1960) (package dropped into taxi during an unlawful police stop did not constitute abandonment)
State v. Tucker, 136 N.J. 158 (1994) (objects jettisoned during pursuit that followed unlawful police action cannot be considered abandoned)
State v. Carvajal, 202 N.J. 214 (2010) (abandonment assessed under totality‑of‑the‑circumstances)
State v. Johnson, 193 N.J. 528 (2008) (discusses abandonment and expectation of privacy under N.J. Const. art. I, ¶ 7 and Fourth Amendment)
State v. Elders, 192 N.J. 224 (2007) (standard of review for suppression motions)
State v. Mann, 203 N.J. 328 (2010) (deference to trial court factfinding on suppression issues)