Opinion ID: 1584057
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: The First Time Frame: In the Hallway

Text: Hayward's initial encounter with the police occurred at Smith's rooming house after he stepped out of the bathroom and into the hallway, which was occupied by a number of police officers. Hayward asserts that due to the number of officers, the fact that he stepped directly into the group, and that a rifle or shotgun was present (although not aimed at anyone), the entire police encounter was nonconsensual from the start. He argues that under these circumstances, his statements and actions were not voluntary, but rather resulted from compelled acquiescence to the apparent authority of the police and that the encounter was an arrest. Moreover, Hayward argues that the police had no physical evidence linking him to the crime, no murder weapon, and nothing putting him at the scene of the crime, thereby rendering his arrest without probable cause. We disagree. Applying the three-level police-encounter criteria set forth in Taylor, we conclude that Hayward's initial encounter with the police inside Smith's rooming house was consensual. While the police were clearly looking for a suspect (a black man with a gunshot wound to his hand), they did not know Hayward was in the bathroom and did nothing to compel him to come out of the bathroom into the hallway. Rather, Hayward emerged from the bathroom of his own accord. After the police inquired about his bandaged hand, Hayward and Smith indicated that Smith had stabbed him following a domestic dispute. When Hayward removed his bandage, it was in response to Officer Mace simply asking if he could take a look at it. At no point did Officer Mace, or any other member of law enforcement, have a weapon drawn or demand to see the wound. Accordingly, the initial report that Hayward's wound was the result of a stabbing incident and the police officer's testimony that the wound appeared to be an infected gunshot wound, not a stab wound, were properly admitted.