CA4: Def did not comply with police commands and wasn’t seized until after he dropped his gun

Defendant was about to be seized when the police car pulled up behind his parked car with emergency lights and officers approached. He got out of his car with gun in hand, at first ignoring police commands, and then he dropped it. Only then did he comply, thus finally submitting to the police authority. The dropping the gun was not the product of the stop. [If he got out of a car with a gun in hand, he’s lucky he’s a defendant and not a corpse.] United States v. Stover, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 22071 (4th Cir. Dec. 18, 2015):

We must view the district court’s finding in the best light for the Government, because it prevailed below. Viewed in that light, the evidence shows that instead of remaining seated in his car when the police vehicle approached, Stover exited his car with a loaded gun in his hand. The district court found that Officer Halsey “tried to keep [Stover] from getting out of the car.” But Stover walked away from the officers to the hood of his car, despite their orders to “get back in the car.” Only after Stover dropped his firearm did he comply with the police orders. For only then, upon seeing Officer Halsey in front of him with a police weapon drawn, did Stover get back in his car and follow subsequent police orders. On the basis of this evidence, the district court did not clearly err in finding that Stover had not submitted until after he had discarded his loaded gun.