United States v. John Edward Baker, 599 F. App'x 904

John Edward Baker pleaded guilty (conditionally) to being a felon in possession of a firearm and appealed denial of his motion to suppress the firearm found in his home.
Officers entered Baker’s residence without a warrant; they were attempting to serve an arrest warrant for Tiffany Gordon, who informant and an officer placed inside the residence.
Baker gave evasive or false answers when officers questioned whether anyone else (specifically Gordon) was present, and did not disclose Gordon’s presence after being told of the outstanding warrant.
After Baker was detained, officers learned he was on state probation and subject to a search condition; an informant (Gordon) also told an officer that Baker had a silver firearm.
Officers conducted a second search of the home and discovered the firearm; the district court denied Baker’s suppression motion, and the Eleventh Circuit affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Baker)	Defendant's Argument (Government)	Held
Validity of warrantless entry to residence to serve Gordon's arrest warrant	Entry unlawful because officers lacked reasonable belief Gordon lived or was present	Officers had informant tip and officer’s sighting supporting belief Gordon resided at and was present in the home	Entry justified — officers reasonably believed Gordon resided at and was present
Legality of Baker’s temporary detention	Detention exceeded scope or lacked reasonable suspicion of harboring a fugitive	Baker’s evasive answers and officer’s observation of multiple occupants produced reasonable suspicion he was harboring Gordon	Detention constitutional — reasonable suspicion supported stop
Permissibility of questioning unrelated to stop (e.g., probation status)	Such questioning impermissible if it extended detention or was unrelated	Questions that didn’t measurably extend duration were permissible	Questions allowed because they didn’t lengthen detention
Validity of second search for firearm under probation search doctrine	Search invalid because officers lacked basis to search under probation condition	Once officers knew Baker was on probation with search condition and had tip about firearm, reasonable suspicion justified probation search	Second search constitutional as a probation search based on reasonable suspicion

United States v. Jordan, 635 F.3d 1181 (11th Cir.) (standard of review for suppression denials)
United States v. Lewis, 674 F.3d 1298 (11th Cir.) (deference to factfinder credibility findings)
Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690 (U.S.) (reasonable-suspicion review de novo)
United States v. Magluta, 44 F.3d 1530 (11th Cir.) (requirements to enter residence to serve arrest warrant)
United States v. Bennett, 555 F.3d 962 (11th Cir.) (dwelling may be suspect’s residence even if temporary)
United States v. Bervaldi, 226 F.3d 1256 (11th Cir.) (commonsense, totality-of-circumstances approach)
United States v. Griffin, 696 F.3d 1354 (11th Cir.) (scope and permissible questioning during investigatory stops)
Alabama v. White, 496 U.S. 325 (U.S.) (reasonable suspicion requires less than probable cause)
United States v. Briggman, 931 F.2d 705 (11th Cir.) (give weight to officer experience in reasonable-suspicion analysis)
United States v. Nunez, 455 F.3d 1223 (11th Cir.) (objective-reasonable-officer perspective for reasonable suspicion)
United States v. Carter, 566 F.3d 970 (11th Cir.) (probationer’s residence may be searched on reasonable suspicion)
United States v. Caraballo, 595 F.3d 1214 (11th Cir.) (appellate court may affirm on any ground supported by the record)