United States v. Steven Barnes, Jr.

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedDecember 4, 2024
Docket23-13861
StatusUnpublished

This text of United States v. Steven Barnes, Jr. (United States v. Steven Barnes, Jr.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh 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. Steven Barnes, Jr., (11th Cir. 2024).

Opinion

USCA11 Case: 23-13861 Document: 32-1 Date Filed: 12/04/2024 Page: 1 of 17

[DO NOT PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit

____________________

No. 23-13861 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus STEVEN DEWAYNE BARNES, JR.,

Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 2:22-cr-00118-SPC-NPM-1 ____________________ USCA11 Case: 23-13861 Document: 32-1 Date Filed: 12/04/2024 Page: 2 of 17

2 Opinion of the Court 23-13861

Before WILSON, JILL PRYOR, and BRASHER, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Defendant-Appellant Steven Dewayne Barnes, Jr. appeals his convictions and 120-month sentence for possessing a firearm as a felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(k). First, Barnes argues that the district court erred in denying his mo- tion to suppress the handgun because police officers obtained it us- ing an unconstitutional stop and pat down search. Second, he ar- gues that the application of a four-level sentencing enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(b)(6)(B) was impermissible double count- ing and violated his Second Amendment rights. After careful con- sideration, we affirm the district court. I. We turn first to the encounter on the streets of Fort Myers that led to Barnes’ Fourth Amendment challenge and motion to suppress. 1 On the day of Barnes’ arrest, he was walking down the street toward his home when two Fort Myers Police Department (FMPD) Group Violence Intervention Unit officers approached him in a marked patrol car. Witnesses had named Barnes as a sus- pect in two recent drive-by-shootings—one of which occurred the

1 The following reflects the district court’s findings after hearing both officers’

testimony, finding it credible, and watching the body camera footage of the incident. USCA11 Case: 23-13861 Document: 32-1 Date Filed: 12/04/2024 Page: 3 of 17

23-13861 Opinion of the Court 3

night before. The two officers were patrolling the area, trying to find out where Barnes was living. Both officers were very familiar with Barnes, had encountered him before, and knew he was a felon.2 One of the officers, Sergeant Sanders, testified he had “lots of conversations” with Barnes over the last eight to ten years and had monitored Barnes as a juvenile probation officer. When Sergeant Sanders saw Barnes, he stopped beside him, rolled down the window, and greeted him. He did not activate the car’s lights or sirens. Barnes walked up to the driver’s side of the patrol car, and they began a casual conversation. Sanders congrat- ulated Barnes on finishing probation and asked Barnes about his mother’s health, his child, and his brother. At the beginning of the conversation, Sanders’ K9 partner, Balor, barked loudly from the back seat, and Sanders tried to quiet him down. Once, Balor had bitten Barnes while helping to arrest him. Since then, Sergeant Sanders had other conversations with Barnes with Balor in the car and Barnes did not appear nervous. On this particular day, both officers noticed Barnes’ unchar- acteristically nervous body language and demeanor. When they first saw him, Barnes was walking down the street normally, carry- ing a grocery bag, with both arms moving freely. But the entire

2 Barnes had been convicted of the following felonies in Lee County Circuit

Court: (1) Resisting an Officer with Violence, Possession of a Weapon School Property, and Carrying a Concealed Firearm on September 28, 2015; (2) Pos- session of Cannabis with Intent to Sell on November 13, 2017; and (3) Fleeing or Attempting to Elude a Law Enforcement Officer on July 15, 2019. USCA11 Case: 23-13861 Document: 32-1 Date Filed: 12/04/2024 Page: 4 of 17

4 Opinion of the Court 23-13861

time he spoke with the officers, he kept his left arm pressed firmly against his left hip, in what the officers described as an unnatural and awkward position. His hands and knees were visibly shaking. When Barnes held up his cell phone to show the officers a video, the two officers got out of the car and stood on either side of him to watch. Even when he took out his phone, Barnes’ left arm stayed pressed against his side. His right hand and legs continued shaking. Based on his prior interactions with Barnes, Sergeant Sand- ers suspected Barnes was carrying a concealed weapon. He asked Barnes if he had a gun. Barnes immediately looked down to his left side, directly to where he had been pressing his arm. At this time, the other officer, Detective Birch, saw a bulge in Barnes’ waistline. The officers grabbed Barnes’ arms. Sergeant Sanders patted down the left side of Barnes’ body. He felt the grip of a firearm from out- side Barnes’ clothing and removed a loaded handgun concealed in his waistband. The officers then put Barnes in handcuffs. After the arrest, Barnes told Detective Birch that he could have just walked across the parking lot to his house rather than stop to speak with the officers. Detective Birch agreed. A federal grand jury indicted Barnes for two counts of un- lawful possession of a firearm under 18 U.S.C. § 922. He moved to suppress evidence of the gun. The district court denied the motion; it found that the encounter was a consensual police-citizen interac- tion until the officers grabbed Barnes’ arms, and that the officers developed reasonable suspicion that Barnes was illegally carrying a firearm before their search and seizure of his person. USCA11 Case: 23-13861 Document: 32-1 Date Filed: 12/04/2024 Page: 5 of 17

23-13861 Opinion of the Court 5

A. In reviewing a district court’s denial of a motion to suppress, we review its “findings of fact for clear error and its application of the law to those facts de novo.” United States v. Luna-Encinas, 603 F.3d 876, 880 (11th Cir. 2010). We construe all facts in the light most favorable to the party that prevailed in the district court. United States v. Morley, 99 F.4th 1328, 1336 (11th Cir. 2024). A factual finding is clearly erroneous only if, after reviewing all the evidence, we have a “definite and firm conviction” that the district court made a mistake. United States v. Villarreal, 613 F.3d 1344, 1349 (11th Cir. 2010) (quotation marks omitted). We afford substantial deference to the district court’s credibility determina- tion “unless it is contrary to the laws of nature, or is so inconsistent or improbable on its face that no reasonable factfinder could accept it.” United States v. Holt, 777 F.3d 1234, 1255 (11th Cir. 2015) (quo- tation marks omitted). B. The Fourth Amendment safeguards the rights of the people to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. U.S. Const. amend. IV. Not all interactions between police officers and citizens are “seizures” for Fourth Amendment purposes. See Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 19 n.16 (1968). Law enforcement officers do not violate the Fourth Amendment “merely by approaching individuals on the street or in other public places” and asking questions. United States v. Drayton, 536 U.S. 194, 200 (2002). A brief, consensual and non- USCA11 Case: 23-13861 Document: 32-1 Date Filed: 12/04/2024 Page: 6 of 17

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