The Denver-based federal appeals court disagreed on Tuesday with a trial judge’s decision to bar evidence from a pat-down search from being used against a defendant.
Federal prosecutors obtained an indictment of Jorge Sigala-Baray for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Police discovered the gun on Sigala-Baray after pulling him over for a broken tail lamp. The arresting officer noted Sigala-Baray seemed “overly nice” and it was “common knowledge” he may have a gun.
Last year, U.S. District Court Judge Nina Y. Wang concluded the pat-down violated the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on unreasonable searches. Among other things, she found probable cause did not exist to arrest Sigala-Baray or his passenger after they could not locate the vehicle’s insurance within two minutes of being asked…