United States v. Andrew Jones

535 F.3d 886, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 16166, 2008 WL 2906538
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedJuly 30, 2008
Docket07-2918
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 535 F.3d 886 (United States v. Andrew Jones) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Andrew Jones, 535 F.3d 886, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 16166, 2008 WL 2906538 (8th Cir. 2008).

Opinion

MELLOY, Circuit Judge.

Andrew Sonny Jones was charged with one count of bank robbery, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a). After unsuccessfully moving to suppress two eyewitness identifications and evidence seized as a result of his warrantless arrest, Jones pled guilty, reserving the right to pursue those issues on appeal. The district court 1 sentenced Jones to 151 months of incarceration. Jones now appeals the district court’s denial of his motions to suppress. We affirm.

I. Background

At approximately 2:30 p.m. on August 9, 2006, a man entered the Highland Bank in downtown Minneapolis and approached the only teller at the counter, Mai Yang. The man demanded money from Yang, informing her that he was armed with a sawed-off shotgun. Yang gave the man money, and the man departed.

Another teller, Sandy Xiong, was working away from the front counter and saw the man interacting with Yang. Xiong was not aware that the man was robbing the bank. From her vantage point, Xiong was able to view the man from the waist up.

Yang called 911 as soon as the man left. She told the 911 operator that the robber was a black man in his mid-thirties, about five feet five inches tall, with a medium to heavy build. She described his attire, noting he was wearing dark jeans, a black tee shirt, white tennis shoes, and a black New York Yankees baseball cap. She mentioned the robber was carrying a medium-sized cardboard box. Yang told the operator which way the man headed as he left the bank.

Police dispatchers broadcast the description of the Highland Bank robber to *889 police officers in downtown Minneapolis. Private security services in the downtown area received the broadcast, as well. After the broadcast, a number of private security guards reported seeing a man matching the description heading northbound in the Minneapolis skyway system. One guard noted the man was no longer wearing a hat, was carrying a backpack, and appeared nervous. Another guard added the suspect was now carrying a soft drink bottle, along with a black backpack. Police dispatchers also broadcast this information. Based on this updated information, Officer John Sheneman of the Minneapolis Police Department entered the skyway system and began looking for the suspect.

Inside the skyway system, a security guard at the Quest Building stopped Officer Sheneman and informed him that “the robber” had just exited to the street via a nearby escalator. The guard and Officer Sheneman followed the path taken by the suspect, and the guard pointed out the man to Officer Sheneman when they reached the street level. The man matched the combined description of the suspect — he fit the original physical description, was not wearing a hat, and was carrying a backpack and a soft drink bottle.

After visually identifying the suspect, Officer Sheneman called in his location and updated the command center. It was just after 3:00 p.m. Officer Sheneman began to follow the suspect. As he was walking, the robbery suspect turned back, looked at Officer Sheneman, and then abruptly began jaywalking across the street. Before the suspect was able to cross traffic, Officer Sheneman unholstered his firearm and ordered the man to stop.

Officer Sheneman ordered the man to return to the sidewalk, and the suspect complied. Other officers quickly arrived at the scene and the suspect, later identified as Jones, was handcuffed and placed in a squad car. After Jones was secured, Officer Sheneman looked inside the backpack Jones had been carrying. Inside the backpack Officer Sheneman saw a black Chicago White Sox baseball cap, bundles of cash, and bank papers.

Officers took Jones to Highland Bank, which was less than a mile away from where Jones was apprehended. At the bank, Jones was ordered to stand in front of the bank facing the bank’s mirrored windows. Jones was still in handcuffs and was surrounded by law enforcement officers. From inside the bank, both Yang and Xiong identified Jones as the man who had robbed the bank less than one hour earlier. Neither Yang nor Jones had any doubts as to Jones’s identification.

Jones was indicted for bank robbery under 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a). Subsequently, Jones filed motions to suppress the evidence seized from his backpack, as well as the eyewitness identifications by Yang and Xiong. A magistrate judge 2 held a hearing on Jones’s motions and recommended the district court deny Jones’s motions. After conducting de novo review of the motions, the district court adopted the magistrate judge’s recommendation. Jones entered a conditional plea of guilty, was sentenced, and filed this appeal.

II. Discussion

We now consider the district court’s denial of Jones’s motions to suppress. “In the context of suppression motions, we review the district court’s factual findings for clear error and its legal deter- *890 urinations de novo.” United States v. Kelly, 329 F.3d 624, 628 (8th Cir.2003).

A. Arrest and Search

Jones contends that he was unlawfully-arrested without probable cause and that, therefore, the evidence seized in the search incident to his arrest should have been suppressed. We conclude that his arrest had sufficient support, making evidence obtained in the search incident to his arrest admissible.

The Fourth Amendment protects, “[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.” U.S. Const, amend TV. “[A] warrantless arrest by a law officer is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment where there is probable cause to believe that a criminal offense has been or is being committed.” Devenpeck v. Alford, 543 U.S. 146, 152, 125 S.Ct. 588, 160 L.Ed.2d 537 (2004). Probable cause sufficient to make a warrantless arrest exists when “the facts and circumstances are sufficient to lead a reasonable person to believe that the defendant has committed or is committing an offense.” United States v. Torres-Lona, 491 F.3d 750, 755 (8th Cir.2007). A “probability or substantial chance of criminal activity, rather than an actual showing of criminal activity” is sufficient. Id. at 756 (internal quotation omitted). “To determine whether an officer had probable cause to arrest an individual, we examine the events leading up to the arrest, and then decide whether these historical facts, viewed from the standpoint of an objectively reasonable police officer, amount to probable cause.” Maryland v. Pringle, 540 U.S. 366, 371, 124 S.Ct. 795, 157 L.Ed.2d 769 (2003) (internal quotation omitted).

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Bluebook (online)
535 F.3d 886, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 16166, 2008 WL 2906538, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-andrew-jones-ca8-2008.