United States v. Paul Johnson, Jr., 885 F.3d 1313

Background

Around 4:00 a.m. in a high-crime area, police received a 911 report of a man trying to enter a neighbor’s window; caller described a black male in a white shirt. Officers arrived within minutes and encountered Johnson, a black male wearing a white shirt, alone near the duplex.
Officers drew weapons, ordered Johnson to come forward, handcuffed him, and detained him in the parking area. They conducted a protective pat-down for officer safety.
During the frisk, Officer Williams felt a nylon object and beneath it a hard, oval-shaped lump he immediately identified as a single round of .380 ammunition; he then reached into Johnson’s right front pocket and removed a nylon holster and the round.
After the seizure, officers canvassed and (15–20 minutes later) found two pistols near a hole in the fence behind the duplex; the firearms were reported stolen. Johnson was later Mirandized, charged under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), and moved to suppress the evidence.
The district court denied suppression, finding the stop and frisk lawful under Terry and that retrieval of the ammo/holster was a permissible continuation of the frisk; Johnson pled guilty conditionally and appealed.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Was the pat-down (frisk) lawful under Terry?	Johnson: frisk was unjustified—no evasive or threatening conduct to suggest he was armed.	Gov: totality (pre-dawn burglary report, high-crime area, matching description, unsecured scene) justified frisk for officer safety.	Held: frisk lawful; reasonable suspicion existed under Terry.
Did reaching into pocket to retrieve a round and holster exceed Terry’s scope?	Johnson: single round is neither a weapon nor immediately contraband; pulling items exceeded protective-search scope.	Gov: Dickerson permits seizure of items identified during a lawful frisk; ammo retention reasonable given possible nearby firearm and unsecure scene.	Held: retrieval exceeded Terry; single round was not a weapon or apparent contraband, so seizure was unlawful.
Were the subsequently found firearms admissible as fruit of the seizure?	Johnson: firearms and statements derived from unlawful seizure should be suppressed.	Gov: argued link to initial search/scene-safety justified subsequent search.	Held: because ammo/holster seizure was unlawful, district court erred in denying suppression of those items; judgment vacated and case remanded.
Could the later search of adjacent property be justified as Terry extension?	Johnson: N/A (argued for suppression).	Gov: attempted to justify firearms recovery as continuation of protective measures.	Held: search of adjacent parcel not justified as Terry extension (time and distance broke immediacy); cannot rely on that to validate firearms recovery.

Key Cases Cited

Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (establishes stop-and-frisk reasonable-suspicion standard)
Minnesota v. Dickerson, 508 U.S. 366 (allows seizure of contraband immediately apparent during lawful frisk)
Illinois v. Wardlow, 528 U.S. 119 (presence in high-crime area is a factor in reasonable-suspicion analysis)
Ybarra v. Illinois, 444 U.S. 85 (limits scope of searches of persons who are merely present)
Adams v. Williams, 407 U.S. 143 (protective searches are for officer safety, not evidence discovery)
United States v. Cortez, 449 U.S. 411 (totality of circumstances test for reasonable suspicion)
United States v. Sokolow, 490 U.S. 1 (clarifies reasonable-suspicion standard under Terry)
United States v. Clay, 483 F.3d 739 (11th Cir.) (frisk may continue when officer reasonably believes object may be weapon)
United States v. Griffin, 696 F.3d 1354 (11th Cir.) (if identity of object is immediately apparent as contraband/weapon, seizure may be justified)
United States v. Matchett, 802 F.3d 1185 (11th Cir.) (consider officer training/experience in totality analysis)