M.D.N.C.: Police-suspect confrontation with guns drawn is a seizure

A police car blocking defendant’s car and officers getting out with guns drawn is a seizure. Here it was with reasonable suspicion. United States v. McDonald, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28667 (M.D.N.C. Feb. 16, 2022).*

A state search warrant for exotic animals resulted in a mass seizure because the officers believed there was mass neglect. There was a defense verdict in the jury trial over the seizure. “The evidence at trial supporting the jury’s determination was plentiful, and we see nothing to suggest that the district court incorrectly denied Cullen’s and Dragonwood’s renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law. By any measure, the officers responsible for executing the search warrant, including Lieutenant Felician and Detective Simmert, faced a highly unusual, troubling, and dangerous situation. The jury stood on solid ground concluding that both officers acted with reasonable caution and well within constitutional limits in seizing every animal, so we affirm judgment for the defendants.” Dragonwood Conservatory v. Joseph, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 4414 (7th Cir. Feb. 17, 2022).*