58 F.4th 1109
9th Cir.2023Background:
- One week after a Sprint store robbery, LAPD Officers Byun and Salas stopped and frisked Terrance Baker at Nickerson Gardens; no weapons or contraband were found during the frisk.
- Officer Byun removed a car key from a key fob hanging on Baker’s belt loop without consent, and took Baker’s ID while approaching parked cars to find the matching vehicle.
- The key’s remote activated the flashing headlights of a nearby red Buick; officers then attempted to handcuff Baker, who fled and was quickly apprehended; the key was lost during the chase.
- Officers later opened the Buick, observed a handgun under the front seat, and recovered a black-and-silver semi-automatic handgun that prosecutors linked to the Sprint robbery with surveillance and expert testimony.
- Baker was convicted of Hobbs Act robbery and conspiracy (18 U.S.C. § 1951(a)) and of brandishing a firearm (18 U.S.C. § 924(c)); he appealed suppression, evidentiary, and sentencing rulings.
Issues:
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether officers exceeded the scope of a Terry frisk by seizing a key from Baker’s belt | Government: frisk lawful for officer safety and seizure incidental to frisk | Baker: removing the key and using it to search for a car exceeded Terry and was an unreasonable seizure | Court: seizure exceeded Terry limits; taking the key without consent violated the Fourth Amendment |
| Whether the handgun discovered in the Buick was admissible under the attenuation doctrine because Baker fled | Government: Baker’s flight was an intervening event that attenuated the taint | Baker: the Buick was identified and searched as a direct consequence of the illegal key seizure, so flight did not attenuate | Court: attenuation not met; gun was discovered by exploitation of the illegality, so fruit-of-the-poisonous-tree applies |
| Whether admission of the gun was harmless error as to all convictions | Government: other evidence (Beatty’s testimony, phone calls, CSLI, surveillance) independently proved robbery and conspiracy and supported § 924(c) | Baker: gun was central to § 924(c) since co-defendant said Baker planned to use a fake gun and video could not prove the gun was real | Court: admission harmless beyond a reasonable doubt for Hobbs Act robbery and conspiracy, but prejudicial as to the § 924(c) brandishing conviction (vacated) |
| Challenges to other evidentiary rulings and sentencing enhancement for obstruction | Government: CSLI expert testimony and exclusion of NIST report were proper; obstruction enhancement supported by Beatty’s testimony | Baker: CSLI testimony overstated precision; NIST report admissible; sentencing enhancement factual finding erroneous | Court: no abuse of discretion or clear error—CSLI expert testimony admissible, NIST report properly excluded, obstruction enhancement upheld |
Key Cases Cited
- Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (establishing stop-and-frisk limits)
- Minnesota v. Dickerson, 508 U.S. 366 (frisk limited to discovering weapons; suppression if frisk exceeds scope)
- Brown v. Illinois, 422 U.S. 590 (attenuation factors: temporal proximity, intervening circumstances, flagrancy)
- Utah v. Strieff, 579 U.S. 232 (attenuation where preexisting arrest warrant interrupted taint)
- Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471 (fruit-of-the-poisonous-tree doctrine)
- United States v. Jacobsen, 466 U.S. 109 (definitions of search and seizure)
- United States v. Brown, 996 F.3d 998 (9th Cir.) (officer’s reaching into pocket exceeded Terry frisk)
- United States v. Garcia, 516 F.2d 318 (9th Cir.) (flight and ensuing chase may supply independent probable cause in context)
- United States v. McClendon, 713 F.3d 1211 (9th Cir.) (flight can purge prior taint where flight produces independent grounds for discovery)
- United States v. Nordling, 804 F.2d 1466 (9th Cir.) (abandonment doctrine: voluntary relinquishment of possession required)