United States v. Terrence Hawkins, 830 F.3d 742

In February 2011 Lincoln University (LU) police officers approached Terrence Hawkins in the student cafeteria after observing signs of intoxication and unusual behavior; a records check showed he was a non‑student with a felony history and known to carry weapons.
Officers ordered Hawkins to sit during the encounter; they observed a bulge in his left pocket, asked about it, and sought consent to retrieve it; Hawkins refused and then fled.
Officers tackled Hawkins; during the struggle Officer McKinney felt a hard object in Hawkins’s pocket, reached in, and removed a loaded handgun and marijuana. Hawkins was indicted under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1).
Hawkins moved to suppress the gun from the first encounter, arguing the officers’ threatened/reach search converted the Terry stop into an arrest without probable cause.
One month later, after an oral no‑trespass warning given on February 24, officers found Hawkins again in the cafeteria and arrested him under Missouri trespass law; a search incident to arrest recovered a second loaded handgun.
Hawkins challenged suppression of the second gun, arguing the LU written policy limited oral no‑trespass orders to five days, so officers lacked probable cause to arrest.

Issue	Hawkins' Argument	Government's Argument	Held
Whether officers’ threatened search and reach during lawful Terry stop converted the stop into an arrest requiring probable cause	The threat to search and the officer’s reach amounted to a de facto arrest; evidence after that point is fruit of an illegal arrest	The stop remained a Terry investigative stop; a protective search (including a reach) is permitted when officers reasonably suspect the suspect is armed; detention was brief and not an arrest	Court held no de facto arrest; officers’ conduct was reasonable under Terry and evidence from the first search was admissible
Whether officers had probable cause to arrest Hawkins for trespass one month after an oral no‑trespass warning	LU’s written policy limited oral no‑trespass warnings to five days; thus Hawkins lacked notice and arrest lacked probable cause	Officers relied on prior actual oral communication and local prosecutor guidance that oral notice suffices; arresting officers had probable cause to believe Hawkins remained unlawfully on campus	Court held officers had probable cause; search incident to arrest was valid and second firearm admissible

Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (establishes investigative stop and limited protective search doctrine)
Adams v. Williams, 407 U.S. 143 (officers may reach for weapons when safety requires)
United States v. Newell, 596 F.3d 876 (8th Cir.) (Terry stop becomes arrest if unreasonably prolonged or forceful)
United States v. Bloomfield, 40 F.3d 910 (8th Cir.) (factors for determining de facto arrest)
Heien v. North Carolina, 135 S. Ct. 530 (reasonable mistake of law can supply probable cause)
Michigan v. DiFillippo, 443 U.S. 31 (probable cause test focuses on officers’ perspective, not ultimate guilt)
Sibron v. New York, 392 U.S. 40 (limitations on searches absent reasonable suspicion)
United States v. Aquino, 674 F.3d 918 (8th Cir.) (search cases cited by Hawkins)
United States v. Baker, 78 F.3d 135 (4th Cir.) (permissible protective measures beyond pat‑downs)
United States v. Hill, 545 F.2d 1191 (9th Cir.) (reaching for weapon may be reasonable in safety context)
State v. McCarthy, 715 S.W.2d 337 (Mo. App. 1986) (oral no‑trespass notice upheld under Missouri trespass statute)