United States v. Darren Ackerman ( 2023 )


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  •                   United States Court of Appeals
    For the Eighth Circuit
    ___________________________
    No. 23-1298
    ___________________________
    United States of America
    Plaintiff - Appellee
    v.
    Darren James Ackerman
    Defendant - Appellant
    ____________
    Appeal from United States District Court
    for the Northern District of Iowa - Eastern
    ____________
    Submitted: October 18, 2023
    Filed: December 8, 2023
    ____________
    Before BENTON, SHEPHERD, and KELLY, Circuit Judges.
    ____________
    BENTON, Circuit Judge.
    The district court 1 denied Darren J. Ackerman’s motion to suppress evidence
    of firearms discovered in his basement. Reserving the right to appeal, he pled guilty
    1
    The Honorable C.J. Williams, United States District Judge for the Northern
    District of Iowa, adopting the report and recommendation of the Honorable Mark A.
    Roberts, United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Iowa.
    to Possession of Firearms by a Prohibited Person under 
    18 U.S.C. §922
    (g)(1).
    Having jurisdiction under 
    28 U.S.C. §1291
    , this court affirms.
    Police learned that Ackerman tried to “choke out” his girlfriend, was probably
    on drugs, and possibly holding their infant daughter hostage at his home. Entering
    the home, officers found Ackerman standing at the bottom of the stairs to the
    basement, holding his daughter. Ordered at gunpoint to come up the stairs, he
    complied. Police searched and handcuffed him. Two officers entered the basement
    to perform a protective sweep. They saw the butt of a gun sticking out of the open
    door to a “canning room,” which was visible from the bottom of the stairs. Looking
    into the room, they saw two firearms. Officers also found drug paraphernalia in an
    open room at the base of the staircase. Based partly on the firearms (and partly on
    drugs found on Ackerman’s person), the officers obtained a search warrant. With it,
    they discovered more firearms.
    Ackerman argues that the search was not a valid protective sweep because the
    searched rooms did not adjoin the place of his arrest. “‘In an appeal from a district
    court’s denial of a motion to suppress evidence, this court reviews factual findings
    for clear error, and questions of constitutional law de novo.’” United States v.
    Gordon, 
    741 F.3d 872
    , 875 (8th Cir. 2013), quoting United States v. Hollins, 
    685 F.3d 703
    , 705 (8th Cir. 2012). “‘We review the district court’s conclusion that a
    protective sweep was justified de novo.’” United States v. Alatorre, 
    863 F.3d 810
    ,
    813 (8th Cir. 2017), quoting United States v. Waldner, 
    425 F.3d 514
    , 517 (8th Cir.
    2005).
    Under the “protective sweep” exception to the Fourth Amendment, officers
    may conduct “a quick and limited search of premises, incident to an arrest and
    conducted to protect the safety of police officers or others.” United States v. Waters,
    
    883 F.3d 1022
    , 1026 (8th Cir. 2018), quoting Maryland v. Buie, 
    494 U.S. 325
    , 327
    (1990). “In Buie the Supreme Court established a two-prong test for determining
    whether a protective sweep incident to an arrest was constitutionally permissible.”
    Waldner, 425 F.3d at 517. “[A]s an incident to the arrest the officers could, as a
    -2-
    precautionary matter and without probable cause or reasonable suspicion, look in
    closets and other spaces immediately adjoining the place of arrest from which an
    attack could be immediately launched.” Buie, 
    494 U.S. at 334
    . Officers may also
    search areas where “articulable facts which, taken together with the rational
    inferences from those facts, would warrant a reasonably prudent officer in believing
    that the area to be swept harbors an individual posing a danger to those on the arrest
    scene.” 
    Id.
    In the Buie case, the Supreme Court denied suppressing evidence, due to the
    protective sweep exception. 
    Id. at 337
    . Officers there discovered evidence while
    searching a basement after the defendant surrendered at the bottom of the basement
    stairs, “emerged from the basement,” and was searched and handcuffed on the first
    floor. 
    Id. at 328
    . The facts here are nearly identical. The district court found that
    Ackerman surrendered and was arrested at the bottom of the basement stairs, walked
    up the stairs, and was searched and handcuffed at the top of the stairs. The officers
    then entered the basement, discovering firearms in a room immediately adjoining
    the area at the bottom of the stairs. These findings are not clearly erroneous.
    The district court properly concluded that the arrest occurred at the bottom of
    the stairs, where Ackerman first submitted to their authority. See United States v.
    Flores-Lagonas, 
    993 F.3d 550
    , 559 (8th Cir. 2021) (“A Fourth Amendment seizure
    occurs ‘when the officer, by means of physical force or show of authority, has in
    some way restrained the liberty of a citizen.’”), quoting Terry v. Ohio, 
    392 U.S. 1
    ,
    19 n.16 (1968); California v. Hodari D., 
    499 U.S. 621
    , 626 (1991) (an arrest occurs
    where there is “either physical force … or, where that is absent, submission to the
    assertion of authority.”). The room with the firearms immediately adjoined the area
    at the bottom of the stairs. The protective sweep complied with the Fourth
    Amendment.
    -3-
    *******
    The judgment is affirmed.
    ______________________________
    -4-
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 23-1298

Filed Date: 12/8/2023

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 12/8/2023