Third Circuit Finds Defendant Was Not Seized Where He Briefly Paused and Raised Hands Before Fleeing

In United States v. Amos, ---F. 4th---, 2023 WL 8636910 (3d Cir. Dec. 14, 2023), the Third Circuit affirmed a district court's denial of a defendant's motion to suppress.  Officers observed the defendant, Shiheen Amos, near the scene of a reported assault.  The officers approached Mr. Amos in a marked patrol car with the lights running and ordered Mr. Amos to put his hands up.  According to the police, Mr. Amos put his hands halfway up and stopped for approximately one second before running away.  When an officer caught up to Mr. Amos and handcuffed him, a handgun fell out of his pocket.  He was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and moved to suppress the handgun, which the district court denied.

The question on appeal was whether Mr. Amos was seized by the officers before he starting running.  The Third Circuit found he was not.  The Court first found there was a show of authority because the officers drove toward Mr. Amos with their lights on and ordered him to put his hands up, a situation in which no reasonable person would feel free to leave.  The Court nevertheless found that Mr. Amos was not seized because his "one-or two-second pause and halfway hand raise did not manifest submission to the officer's show of authority."  In so holding, the Court relied on earlier caselaw stating that a "momentary pause" does not qualify as submission to an officer's show of authority.

The Third Circuit did remand the case for resentencing, however, because Mr. Amos received an enhancement based on a prior Pennsylvania aggravated assault conviction that no longer qualifies as a categorical crime of violence under United States v. Jenkins, 68 F.4th 148 (3d Cir. 2023).

A copy of the opinion is available at: https://www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/203298p.pdf.