United States v. Anthony R. Buster

Summary

In *United States v. Buster*, the Fourth Circuit held that a warrantless search of a bag under the *Terry* protective-search doctrine is unconstitutional when the suspect is already handcuffed and face-down on the ground, with no access to the bag, because there is no realistic danger to officer safety. The court also ruled that a conditional guilty plea under Rule 11(a)(2) properly preserved both a Fourth Amendment suppression issue (case-dispositive) and a Fifth Amendment *Miranda* issue (inextricably intertwined), allowing appellate review. The conviction was reversed and remanded for further proceedings.

Holdings

1. The Terry protective search doctrine cannot be stretched to cover a warrantless search of a bag recently possessed by a person who was handcuffed and face-down on the ground at the time the bag was opened, because there is no realistic danger to officer safety.
2. The conditional plea was valid because the issues preserved were case-dispositive (suppression of essential evidence) and inextricably intertwined, and Bundy does not preclude consideration.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the warrantless search of Buster's bag was constitutionally reasonable under the Terry protective search doctrine after Buster was handcuffed and no longer had access to the bag.
2. Whether the conditional guilty plea properly preserved the issues for appeal under United States v. Bundy.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded