Court Opinion

ID: 9472627
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 04:06:01.941792+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:43:02.874614
License: Public Domain

ARNOLD, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I think Inspector Rucke’s actions in the interview room would have caused a reasonable person to believe he was not free to leave. Therefore, Clark’s arrest took place at that point. The government does not argue, and the District Court did not find, that probable cause to arrest existed at that time. It follows that the fruits of the arrest were unlawfully seized, and that the conviction should be reversed and the cause remanded for trial, at which the United States would have an opportunity to prove Clark’s guilt without the aid of unconstitutionally seized evidence.
When Clark asked to use the phone, Officer Rucke said, “Sit down. You can use the phone later.” Ante, at 1257, quoting Transcript of the Hearing on the Motion to Suppress (Tr.) 31. Clark had gotten up and was walking over to the phone.1 Tr. 15. The officer did not merely tell Clark that the phone was in use and that he could use it later. He “stood up and ... kind of pulled his pants up ... and instructed [Clark] ... to sit down and to remain seated.” Tr. 15-16. Thus, a direct order was given with respect to Clark’s physical movements.
Then, while Inspector George was still on the phone, Clark got up to leave.2 Inspector Rucke “got up to prevent Clark from leaving.” Ante, at 1259. I do not see how an official intention to restrain Clark’s physical movements could have been more clearly indicated. The Court argues that although Inspector Rucke intended to pre*1261vent Clark’s departure, this intent was never conveyed to Clark. With respect, I disagree. According to the Magistrate (whose findings the District Court accepted) “[o]n his way out, [Clark] shoved a chair in front of” Rucke. Designated Record 6. The conclusion that Clark reasonably thought Rucke was trying to keep him from leaving the room is inescapable.
It is hard to develop much sympathy for the defendant, of course. The incriminating evidence was found on his person, as is often the case in motion-to-suppress situations. It seems clear that he has violated a federal statute. What we cannot know for sure is how many innocent people will be restrained or searched without probable cause, if the officers’ conduct in this case is approved. For an innocent person whose rights are so violated is usually not prosecuted. He does not have to make a motion to suppress. He simply goes on his way, and the unconstitutional conduct of the government never comes to the attention of any court. It is the innocent that the Fourth Amendment is intended to protect, and it is the innocent who suffer when it is not enforced.
I respectfully dissent.

. There was a telephone in the interview room. Tr. 15. Presumably Inspector George, who was on the phone at the time, was in another room, but talking on the same line.

. The Court says, ante at 1259, that "Clark never stated that he did not want to answer the inspectors’ questions ... and at no point during the questioning period did he indicate a desire to leave.’’ This statement is correct, but only in a very narrow sense. Clark had refused the officers’ request that he empty his pockets, and by getting up to leave the room he surely indicated, more clearly than any words could have, that he did not wish to answer any more questions or to remain in the room.