Page 30 - TPA Journal January February 2025

to investigate suspected criminal activity. To jus- exigency exception to the warrant requirement
tify a Terry stop, an officer only needs reasonable applies. First, he avers that there was no reason-
suspicion. able belief that evidence was about to be
destroyed. Second, even if there was a threat
Here, reasonable suspicion is satisfied by the that the evidence was about to be destroyed,
information from the tipster combined with the Jefferson argues that the police created that exi-
suspicious behavior Detective Jones noticed gency themselves. “Agents cannot justify their
when he first approached Jefferson. Recall that search on the basis of exigent circumstances of
Detective Jones observed Jefferson looking their own making.”
around nervously, as if for a path of escape.
Detective Jones also noticed Jefferson’s hand was We do not address the merits of Jefferson’s
shaking, causing his keys to jingle. Such behav- unlawful entry argument. Even if the police had
ior, along with the corroborated information from entered Jefferson’s apartment unlawfully and
the tipster, justifies the officers’ decision to stop searched the premises without a warrant, the evi-
Jefferson and ask him some basic questions. dence obtained could still be admitted under the
independent source doctrine. Evidence that is
The relevant analysis for whether a police seizure “received through an illegal source is considered
becomes a full arrest, as opposed to an investiga- to be cleanly obtained when it arrives through an
tory stop, is whether a reasonable person would independent source.”
feel his movement has been sufficiently curtailed
as to constitute full legal arrest. A reasonable Not every bad act by the police ultimately results
person is not one who is guilty and thus especial- in suppression of evidence. The independent
ly nervous or anxious. Further, “[u]sing some source doctrine allows the government to admit
force on a suspect, pointing a weapon at a sus- evidence if the officers had other means to obtain
pect, ordering a suspect to lie on the ground, and it lawfully.
handcuffing a suspect—whether singly or in
combination—do not automatically convert an The search warrant later obtained by police was
investigatory detention into an arrest requiring made up of corroborated evidence from the tip-
probable cause.” Turner makes clear that even ster and Jefferson’s own admission during the
assuming the officers had drawn their firearms, investigatory stop that drugs and a gun were in
the stop still might have been a mere investigato- the apartment.
ry stop for which the officers would only need
reasonable suspicion. Jefferson argues that he is entitled to a Franks
hearing primarily because of the timestamps on
The district court heard the evidence and favored the photos taken from his apartment. The first
the testimony of Detective Jones over that of photograph has a timestamp of 8:18 a.m. (49
Jefferson’s daughter. We cannot say that determi- minutes before the search warrant was
nation was clear error. After Jefferson admitted approved). Because this alleged violation was
he had cocaine and a gun inside the apartment, not included in the application for a search war-
the police then had probable cause to make the rant, Jefferson argues that it constitutes a prelimi-
full arrest. Therefore, the initial stop and eventual nary showing of reckless disregard for truth.
arrest of Jefferson were lawful.
The government responds that the timestamps
Jefferson argues that the officers unlawfully can merely be explained as an administrative
entered his apartment without a warrant. In par- error. The internal clock on the camera had not
ticular, Jefferson makes two arguments that no been changed from Central Standard Time to

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