United States v. Eric Brodie
408 U.S. App. D.C. 326
| D.C. Cir. | 2014Background
- Police prepared to execute a search warrant at Jerome Earles’s townhouse; Earles was already in custody. Officers parked nearby to await homicide detectives.
- Eric Brodie left the townhouse and walked toward the officers; officers pulled alongside him and ordered him to put his hands on a nearby car.
- Brodie complied by placing his hands on the car for a few seconds, then fled; during flight he discarded three guns and was later found to possess crack cocaine after capture and pat-down.
- Brodie moved to suppress the guns and drugs as fruits of an illegal seizure; the district court denied the motion, he pleaded guilty to § 922(g)(1) but reserved the suppression issue, and was sentenced (later impacted by Descamps).
- The government argued three alternatives: no seizure (no submission), a reasonable seizure incident to execution of a search warrant (Summers), and attenuation via flight/abandonment.
- The D.C. Circuit reversed the conviction, holding (1) Brodie was seized when he submitted by putting his hands on the car, (2) Summers did not authorize that seizure, and (3) Brodie’s flight/discarding did not attenuate the taint.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument (Gov't) | Defendant's Argument (Brodie) | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether a seizure occurred when Brodie put his hands on the car | Brodie’s compliance was too momentary to be submission, so no seizure | Brodie submitted to officers’ show of authority by placing his hands on the car | Seizure occurred: brief but authentic submission constituted submission |
| Whether seizure was reasonable as incident to execution of a search warrant (Summers) | Summers permits detaining persons connected to the premises even outside the doorway during a warrant execution | Brodie wasn’t present when the search was being conducted; detention not covered by Summers | Summers inapplicable: seizure did not occur "when" a search was underway |
| Whether police had reasonable suspicion or probable cause to detain | Officers had justification to stop/identify Brodie because he left the house to be searched | No reasonable suspicion/probable cause shown; government did not invoke Terry or similar grounds | No independent reasonable suspicion/probable cause; government did not rely on Terry; seizure unreasonable |
| Whether Brodie’s flight and discarding of weapons purged the taint (attenuation) | Flight and abandonment were intervening acts that dissociate evidence from the illegal seizure | Flight and discarding flowed directly from the illegal seizure and did not create sufficient attenuation | No attenuation: but-for causation and lack of intervening circumstances meant suppression required |
Key Cases Cited
- California v. Hodari D., 499 U.S. 621 (seizure occurs on submission or physical force)
- Michigan v. Summers, 452 U.S. 692 (categorical authority to detain occupants during execution of a search warrant)
- Bailey v. United States, 133 S. Ct. 1031 (limits Summers to those present when and where the search is conducted)
- Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471 (fruit of the poisonous tree and purging taint doctrine)
- Brown v. Illinois, 422 U.S. 590 (attenuation factors: time, intervening circumstances, flagrancy)
- Hudson v. Michigan, 547 U.S. 586 (suppression principles and limits)
- United States v. Washington, 12 F.3d 1128 (D.C. Cir.: brief stop after flashing lights did not show submission)
- United States v. Maragh, 894 F.2d 415 (standard of review for seizure timing questions)