DISCLAIMER: The following unofficial case summaries are prepared by the clerk's office
as a courtesy to the reader. They are not part of the opinion of the court.
221080P.pdf 06/13/2023 United States v. Sylvester Cunningham
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 22-1080
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa - Cedar Rapids
[PUBLISHED] [Colloton, Author, with Wollman and Stras, Circuit Judges]
Criminal case - Criminal law. The police officer's action in lifting the
cushion of defendant's wheelchair was permissible on two grounds - as an
investigative search based on reasonable suspicion of crime and danger
and, second, as a search for evidence based on probable cause under
exigent circumstances; 18 U.S.C. Sec. 922(g)(1) does not violate the
Second Amendment as the long-standing prohibition on possession of
firearms by felon is constitutional - see U.S. v. Jackson, No. 22-2870,
2023 WL 3769242 (8th Cir. June 2, 2023); the evidence was sufficient to
support defendant's convictions for possession of cocaine with intent to
distribute, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and possession of a
firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. Judge Stras,
dissenting.