December 30th, 2019

United States v. Darrell

Docket: 19-60087
Opinion Date: December 23, 2019
Judge: Higginbotham
Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction and sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Viewing this case under the totality of the circumstances, the court held that reasonable suspicion supported the brief investigatory stop of defendant. In this case, defendant was fleeing from a high-crime area, officers reasonably feared that defendant might draw a weapon or warn the target of their arrest warrant if he were permitted to withdraw from view, and the fact that defendant was not seen committing any criminal activity did not detract from the reasonableness of the officers' suspicion.

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