989 F.3d 1281
11th Cir.2021Background
- Around 1:00 a.m. Tampa officers saw Anthony Knights and Hozell Keaton at an Oldsmobile parked in the front yard of a house in a high-crime area; officers suspected possible theft and returned to investigate.
- Officers parked the cruiser near the Oldsmobile (in the wrong direction for traffic) and approached; Keaton walked into the house and ignored an officer, while Knights remained in the driver’s seat and closed his door.
- Officer Seligman knocked on Knights’s window; when Knights opened the door the officer smelled burnt marijuana; Knights produced identification, said the marijuana was gone, and consented to further interaction.
- A subsequent search of Knights and the car produced pills, a scale, a ski mask, ammunition, and firearms; Knights (a felon) was charged with possession of a firearm and ammunition in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1).
- Knights moved to suppress, arguing the encounter was an investigatory stop without reasonable suspicion; the magistrate judge recommended suppression, the district court denied suppression, convicted Knights after a stipulated bench trial, and sentenced him to 33 months.
- On appeal the panel held the encounter was consensual (no Fourth Amendment seizure) and affirmed; the court rejected Knights’s contention that race may be considered in the threshold seizure inquiry.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether officers seized Knights when they parked near and approached his parked car (i.e., investigatory stop requiring reasonable suspicion) | Knights: parking/approach impeded his ability to leave and therefore was an investigatory stop without reasonable suspicion | Government: initial interaction was a consensual police-citizen encounter; any seizure occurred only after the officer smelled marijuana (probable cause) | Held: interaction was consensual; no Fourth Amendment seizure at parking/approach stage; conviction affirmed |
| Whether race may be considered in the objective “reasonable person” seizure inquiry | Knights: age and race (young Black man) should inform whether a reasonable person in his position would feel free to leave | Government: seizure inquiry is objective and does not vary by suspect’s race; race should not factor into the threshold test | Held: Race may not be considered in the threshold seizure analysis; courts use an objective reasonable-person test (age may be considered when objectively relevant) |
Key Cases Cited
- United States v. Drayton, 536 U.S. 194 (2002) (officers may approach and question without implicating Fourth Amendment where encounter is consensual)
- Florida v. Bostick, 501 U.S. 429 (1991) (totality-of-the-circumstances test for consensual encounters vs. seizures)
- Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968) (definition and limits of investigative stops under Fourth Amendment)
- Miller v. Harget, 458 F.3d 1251 (11th Cir. 2006) (parking behind a vehicle and approaching on foot is not necessarily a seizure absent other coercive acts)
- United States v. Beck, 602 F.2d 726 (5th Cir. 1979) (officers parking very close to a vehicle can effect a restraint—distinguished on facts)
- United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 544 (1980) (factors relevant to voluntariness and consensual encounters; discussion of personal characteristics)
- J.D.B. v. North Carolina, 564 U.S. 261 (2011) (age may be considered in reasonable-person analysis when it has objectively discernible relation)
- Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806 (1996) (Equal Protection bars race-based selective enforcement and limits race-conscious inferences)
- Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966) (bright-line custodial-warning rule in Fifth Amendment context; cited by concurrence advocating a similar Fourth Amendment rule)
- Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218 (1973) (consent voluntariness differs from Miranda; used in discussion of bright-line warnings)
- United States v. Perez, 443 F.3d 772 (11th Cir. 2006) (standard of review for suppression rulings)
- United States v. Jordan, 635 F.3d 1181 (11th Cir. 2011) (investigatory-stop/terror standard cited for seizure analysis)