{"id":6609,"date":"2012-06-10T19:55:32","date_gmt":"2012-01-30T00:33:34","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-01-29T19:03:39","slug":"en-US","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/?p=6609","title":{"rendered":"CA3: Direction to \u201cshow your hands\u201d not a seizure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Officer\u2019s mere direction to the defendant to \u201cshow your hands\u201d did not constitute a seizure under the Fourth Amendment. Defendant then fled and abandoned a gun. United States v. Grant<\/a>, 459 Fed. Appx. 154 (3d Cir. 2012) (unpublished):<\/p>\n

The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. U.S. Const. amend. IV. An encounter between a police officer and a citizen will only trigger Fourth Amendment protections when \u201cit loses its consensual nature.\u201d United States v. Smith<\/a>, 575 F.3d 308, 312 (3d Cir. 2009). Thus a \u201cseizure\u201d for Fourth Amendment purposes occurs only when \u201cthe officer, by means of physical force or show of authority, has in some way restrained the liberty of a citizen.\u201d Id. (quoting Florida v. Bostick<\/a>, 501 U.S. 429, 434 (1991)). \u201c[T]he test for existence of a \u2018show of authority\u2019 is an objective one: not whether the citizen perceived that he was being ordered to restrict his movement, but whether the officer\u2019s words and actions would have conveyed that to a reasonable person.\u201d United States v. Brown<\/a>, 448 F.3d 239, 245 (3d Cir. 2006) (quoting California v. Hodari D.<\/a>, 499 U.S. 621, 628 (1991)). To trigger a \u201cseizure\u201d a citizen must submit to an officer\u2019s show of authority and do so beyond mere momentary compliance. See United States v. Valentine<\/a>, 232 F.3d 350, 359 (3d Cir. 2000). See also Smith, 575 F.3d at 316 (\u201cTwo steps towards the hood of a car does not manifest submission to the police officers\u2019 show of authority\u201d).<\/p>\n

As the officers did not use physical force until after the gun had been abandoned, Grant contends the officer\u2019s instructions to \u201cshow your hands\u201d constituted a show of authority to which Grant complied to by raising his hands. We disagree. As the District Court determined, Grant raised his hands at practically the same time as his flight. Thus, at most, he did nothing more than momentarily comply with the officer\u2019s show of authority. This is not a \u201cseizure\u201d under our Fourth Amendment jurisprudence. See Valentine, 232 F.3d at 359. Because no Fourth Amendment seizure occurred, we do not need to consider whether the seizure was reasonable. Smith<\/a>, 575 F.3d at 313 (\u201cAs such, any seizure inquiry has two steps: Was there in fact a seizure? If so, was that seizure reasonable?\u201d). <\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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