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Name: U.S. v. Summers
Case #: 00-30083
Opinion Date: 10/12/2001
Court: US Court of Appeals
District 9 Cir
Citation: 268 Fed.3d 683
Summary

There was no Fourth Amendment violation where police officers observed appellant late at night at a Goodwill drop station, carrying boxes to his car, and subsequently observed, in plain view, an unregistered sawed-off shotgun when they shone a flashlight into the vehicle. The interaction in this case was voluntary, since Summers was getting the paperwork to prove ownership of the vehicle at the time. Even if the encounter were an investigatory stop, it was justified by the suspicion that Summers had committed, or was about to commit, a crime.