United States v. Rose

Che Rose (defendant) attended a cookout at Brandon Grayson’s apartment. Rose and Grayson had been acquaintances for approximately six years. Rose had stayed the night with Grayson on one prior occasion, when Grayson lived in a different apartment. During the cookout, police officers came to Grayson’s apartment looking for a stolen .40-caliber handgun because they had received information that the handgun had been sold to someone at Grayson’s apartment. The officers requested Grayson’s consent to search the apartment, but Grayson refused. The officers then began to secure the apartment to prevent the destruction or removal of evidence while a search warrant was requested. At that point, the officer stationed behind the apartment observed Rose attempting to escape the apartment through a window. The officer noticed that Rose had a gun and ordered Rose to drop the weapon. Rose attempted to throw the handgun onto the roof, but the gun fell to the ground. The officers inside the apartment went into the room with the window, and Rose admitted the gun he threw was his. Rose was arrested, and the officers discovered that Rose also was in possession of crack cocaine. Rose’s gun was a 38-caliber revolver. The officers did not find the stolen .40-caliber handgun. The federal government (plaintiff) charged Rose with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of illegal drugs. Rose filed a motion to suppress the evidence found by police, arguing that the search of Grayson’s apartment was illegal. The trial court determined that Rose was a short-term social guest of Grayson’s and did not have standing to challenge the search of Grayson’s apartment. Rose pleaded guilty to the charges, but he reserved the right to appeal the denial of the motion to suppress. Rose appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.