Federal appeals court sides with Milwaukee police officer

A Milwaukee police officer's decision to frisk a man parked outside an auto parts store as it was closing was lawful, and the officer should be immune from a lawsuit claiming the search was unconstitutional, a federal appeals court has ruled.

The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a finding by Magistrate Judge David Jones that officer Jonathan Newport based the stop and the frisk merely on the report of a suspicious person and was not entitled to qualified immunity from Davin Green's lawsuit. 

Newport arrested Green in 2014 after finding a handgun tucked in Green's waistband after ordering Green out of his car. Green claimed the stop and frisk that revealed the weapon was unconstitutional. After Jones denied Newport's motion for summary judgment, he appealed.

The 7th Circuit found that Newport relied on more than just a report of a suspicious person. He had specific information that a Mercury Marquis had driven around the store several times near closing time. He knew the store had been robbed at closing time in the last two months, and that guns were involved. The driver of the Marquis was leaning into Green's car when Newport drove up in the parking lot.

Green was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, a misdemeanor, but the charge was later dismissed by prosecutors.