{"id":337899,"date":"2025-12-10T16:32:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T16:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/when-is-d-c-person-seized-for-4th-amendment-purposes\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T16:32:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T16:32:16","slug":"when-is-d-c-person-seized-for-4th-amendment-purposes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=337899","title":{"rendered":"When is D.C. person seized for 4th Amendment purposes?"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The first question in any case in which the legality of a Fourth Amendment search is being challenged is when the seizure occurred.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The next question then becomes:\u00a0 What did police officers know at the time of this seizure?<\/p>\n

If the facts known to them constituted either reasonable suspicion or probable cause, then the seizure was legal.\u00a0 If there was no legal basis for the stop, then the court should preclude the government from introducing any evidence obtained as a result of the illegal stop.\u00a0 That evidence would be considered the \u201ctainted fruit of the forbidden tree.\u201d<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

The case law on the definition of seizure has jumped around in recent years.\u00a0 Providing clarity on the issue should be the recent D.C. Court of Appeals decision in Donte J. Carter v. United States<\/em><\/a>, __ A.3d __ (D.C. 2025).\u00a0<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

Donte Carter was among a group of 10 black men \u201cconversing on a sidewalk\u201d when five members of the former Gun Recovery Unit (GRU)<\/a>(subsequently renamed Violent Crime Impact Team) pulled up in two unmarked vehicles.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The officers were wearing tactical vests with \u201cpolice\u201d written on the back.\u00a0 Also visible were handcuffs, firearms, and other police equipment.\u00a0 The officers were in the area because of \u201can uptick in shootings and sounds of gunfire\u201d in the area.<\/p>\n

The officers announced that they were \u201cchecking for firearms,\u201d and one of the men lifted his shirt to reveal his empty waistband.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of the officers then turned his attention to Carter.\u00a0 Specifically, standing within three or four feet of Carter, the officer asked Carter how he was doing.\u00a0 Carter said \u201cwhat\u2019s up\u201d and turned away.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The officer moved closer to Carter.\u00a0 But before the officer could say anything else, Carter lifted his shirt to show his waistband and then lowered it.<\/p>\n

As Carter lifted his shirt, the officer asked him if he had anything on him.\u00a0 When Carter said no and lifted his shirt again, the officer asked him to \u201chike\u201d up his pants \u201creal quick.\u201d\u00a0 Carter complied with this request. He also lifted up his shirt again and then put it back down.<\/p>\n

While this was happening, another officer also began to approach Carter.\u00a0 When he was about six to ten feet away, he noticed an L-shaped bulge in Carter\u2019s groin area which he believed to be a gun.<\/p>\n

The officers frisked Carter and recovered a firearm.\u00a0<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

In order to determine whether a person has been seized for Fourth Amendment purposes, the court will \u201cask whether in view of all the circumstances surrounding the defendant\u2019s encounter with law enforcement, an objective and reasonable person in the defendant\u2019s shoes would have felt free to terminate the interaction and go about [their] business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Factors that the court will consider in making this determination include:<\/p>\n