No. 20-6216

Michael E. Torres v. United States

Lower Court: Third Circuit
Docketed: 2020-11-04
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP Experienced Counsel
Tags: armed-career-criminal-act arrest criminal-procedure drug-conviction fourth-amendment fourth-amendment-seizure investigative-detention probable-cause reasonable-suspicion
Key Terms:
FourthAmendment CriminalProcedure
Latest Conference: 2020-12-04
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Did the Third Circuit err in viewing the police conduct as no more than a brief investigative detention and thus justified by reasonable suspicion instead of probable cause?

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTIONS PRESENTED 1. The Fourth Amendment requires that police have probable cause before subjecting an individual to an arrest. Police surrounded Appellant, ordered him to the ground at gunpoint, and while an officer was kneeling on Appellant’s back, handcuffed him. Did the Third Circuit err in viewing the police conduct as no more than a brief investigative detention and thus justified by reasonable suspicion instead of probable cause? 2. The Armed Career Criminal Act enhancement requires, among other things, three prior convictions for a felony drug offense committed on occasions different from one another. Two of petitioner’s prior drug convictions were encompassed within the third—a conspiracy. Does this constitute “different occasions” for the enhancement? i

Docket Entries

2020-12-07
Petition DENIED.
2020-11-18
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 12/4/2020.
2020-11-10
Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
2020-10-28
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due December 4, 2020)

Attorneys

Michael Torres
Frederick William UlrichFederal Public Defenders Office, Petitioner
Frederick William UlrichFederal Public Defenders Office, Petitioner
United States
Jeffrey B. WallActing Solicitor General, Respondent
Jeffrey B. WallActing Solicitor General, Respondent