United States v. Jefferson, 89 F.4th 494

Palma Jefferson, Jr. was convicted of various drug trafficking offenses and being a felon in possession of a firearm after a tipster informed police he was transporting cocaine and described his vehicle and residence.
Detective Jones of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office corroborated the tip through surveillance, law enforcement databases, and confirmation with another police department.
When officers approached Jefferson, there was a factual dispute over whether he was immediately detained at gunpoint; the district court credited the officers’ account that this was an investigatory stop, not a de facto arrest.
A protective sweep of Jefferson’s apartment took place prior to obtaining a search warrant; Jefferson challenged the lawfulness of the sweep and subsequent search, especially via photo timestamps.
Jefferson contested drug quantity calculations and the application of a sentencing enhancement for firearm possession on the ground that he was acquitted of the related firearm count.
The district court denied all motions to suppress, declined to grant a Franks hearing, and overruled objections to sentencing enhancements; Jefferson appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Seizure/arrest legality	Stop was a limited, lawful investigatory stop based on reasonable suspicion	Was a de facto arrest without probable cause; handcuffed, moved, and (possibly) guns drawn	No de facto arrest; initial stop and eventual arrest lawful
Warrantless entry/search	Protected sweep pending warrant justified by exigency and later warrant based on independent sources	Entry unlawful, no exigency, police created any exigency	Independent source doctrine applies; evidence admissible
Franks hearing denial	No evidence of deliberate/reckless falsehood in warrant affidavit	Photo timestamps show misleading affidavit; warrant tainted	No showing of falsehood or recklessness; no hearing required
Drug quantity and firearm enhancement	Extrapolation of drug weights from samples and enhancement for firearm proper	Drug quantity methodology flawed; enhancement inappropriate after firearm acquittal	Government's calculation and enhancement affirmed

Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (brief investigatory stops require only reasonable suspicion)
Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471 (exclusionary rule applies to fruits of unlawful arrests/searches)
Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154 (standards for a hearing on false statements in warrant affidavits)
Murray v. United States, 487 U.S. 533 (independent source doctrine for evidence obtained independently of unlawful entry)
United States v. Akins, 746 F.3d 590 (sentencing enhancement for firearm possession properly applies even after acquittal on related count)