United States v. Rose

Facts

On September 10, 2009, a detective was investigating a recent burglary during which a .40 caliber handgun was stolen. Through information received and corroborated by a number of juveniles, the detective had reason to believe the handgun was located at a 340 Cypress Avenue, Apartment 6. The detective decided to go to the apartment and took along three other officers. When they arrived, one officer walked to the rear of the building while the detective knocked on the front door of Apartment 6. Brandon Grayson was renting the apartment and answered the door. At the time, Grayson was preparing to host a cookout and Grayson’s brother, his brother’s girlfriend and child, and Rose were all present in the apartment. The detective explained why he was there and asked permission to search the apartment. Grayson did not consent to the search and advised that the officers would need to secure a search warrant. The detective responded that he would seek one, but in the interest of officer safety and to prevent the destruction or removal of evidence, they would need to secure the apartment. Grayson then allowed the officers to enter the apartment. At the same time, the officer stationed at the rear of the building heard a window open and saw Rose leaning out with a revolver in his hand.  He radioed the others and order Rose to drop the gun. Rose did not comply with the order and failed in an attempt to throw the gun onto the building’s roof. The detective and an officer entered the room where Rose was and arrested Rose. Officers seized the .38 caliber revolver he had tried to hide, along with money and crack cocaine concealed on his person. (After obtaining a warrant, the officers searched Apartment 6, but did not locate the stolen .40 caliber.)