In United States v. Yarbrough, No. 18-10624 (June 11,
2020) (Branch, Marcus, Ungaro), the Court affirmed the denial of a
motion to suppress.
The Court concluded that concluded that, based on the
totality of the circumstances, officers had reasonable suspicion to believe
that a dangerous person or people could be inside a home, justifying a protective
sweep. Although the officers executed an
arrest warrant in the driveway, the Court emphasized that: there were anonymous
tips that the house was heavily trafficked and a possible source of drug
activity; there were two cars at the residence and four people outside the home;
the defendant’s wife fled inside to the
bathroom when the police called her name; and the sweep was immediate, took only
a minute, and was limited in scope.
Judge Ungaro dissented, opining that there was no reasonable
suspicion to believe that anyone was inside the home. She emphasized that nothing during the arrest
corroborated the anonymous tips, no drugs or weapons were found during pat downs of the
men outside, and there was no indication that anyone else was inside. The sweep, she concluded, was based on speculation
rather than any articulable facts.
