An officer assigned to a public housing complex noticed defendant and two companions sitting in a parked car outside the complex. The officer parked his vehicle in front of defendant’s vehicle so defendant could not leave. It was at this time the officer approached the defendant.

As a result of the encounter, the officer searched the defendant’s vehicle and found a firearm with no serial number under the driver’s seat of the car. The officer arrested him and he was charged with possession of a firearm. The Court ruled that the officer’s blocking of the defendant’s car to determine the identity of the occupants was a warrantless Terry seizure. When the officer decided to block the defendant’s vehicle with his marked patrol vehicle, a reasonable person in defendant’s position would have not felt free to leave.

The Court held that based on the totality of the circumstances, the officer did not have reasonable suspicion that criminal activity was occurring, and therefore, the Terry stop was improper. Since the initial Terry stop was unlawful, the evidence resulting from the subsequent search, including the bullets and firearm, had to be suppressed as the “fruit of the poisonous tree.”

Lastly, the Court stated that it did not appear an exception to the “fruits’ analysis such as the “independentsource “rule or the “inevitable-discovery” doctrine applied to make suppression unwarranted.

The case was reversed and remanded. United States v. See, No. 08-3484, released July 24, 2009.