United States v. Waters

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of defendant's motion to suppress evidence seized during a search of his residence while executing an arrest warrant. The court held that the district court properly found that the protective sweep was permissible under the Fourth Amendment. In this case, although the exact timing was unclear, the record established that officers began the protective sweep either contemporaneously with, or immediately following, defendant's arrest. Furthermore, the district court supported its finding with specific and articulable facts from which a reasonable officer could have concluded that another person was in the residence. The court also affirmed defendant's sentence, holding that the district court did not err in weighing the 18 U.S.C. 3553(a) factors and by giving significant weight to defendant's lengthy history of serious and violent crimes. Furthermore, the sentence was substantively reasonable. View "United States v. Waters" on Justia Law