No. 22-2538 ___________________________

United States of America

Plaintiff - Appellee

v.

William Stevenson

Defendant - Appellant ____________

Appeal from United States District Court for the District of South Dakota - Southern ____________

Submitted: March 21, 2023 Filed: May 3, 2023 ____________ Before BENTON, ERICKSON, and KOBES, Circuit Judges. ____________ BENTON, Circuit Judge.

Police observed William Stevenson leaving a hotel room just after they had secured a search warrant for the room. Within minutes, they detained and arrested him. They found methamphetamine on his person and more in the room. After the district court1 refused to suppress the drugs found on his person, a jury convicted Stevenson of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 846. Having jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, this court affirms.

I.

Investigating meth distribution in Sioux Falls, police stopped a car driven by a suspected drug seller. They found 9.5 pounds of meth, a loaded gun, cash, and cell phones. A passenger told police he had recently come from the Ramada Inn. In a room there, he saw two other men with pounds of meth and firearms.

At the Ramada Inn, Police Narcotics Detective Danijel Mihajlovic learned that room 214 had been rented by occupants of the car. He began surveilling those rooms while other officers sought search warrants. Detective Mihajlovic heard a man in room 214 and waited in the hallway.

A judge signed the warrant for the room and a related car. Ten minutes later, Stevenson left room 214, giving Detective Mihajlovic a “hard stare” while clutching the front of his waistband. The Detective thought he had a gun. Stevenson went to a gas station across the street.

When Stevenson returned to the hotel, officers apprehended him in the parking lot. They exited their cars, guns drawn at their sides, commanding him to get on the ground. Stevenson refused to comply. Drawing his taser, Detective Mihajlovic told Stevenson he would deploy it on the count of five. When Detective Mihajlovic got to five, Stevenson said “all right, all right,” and turned toward the hotel as if to flee. The Detective tased him.

1 The Honorable Karen E. Schrier, United States District Judge for the District of South Dakota, modifying and adopting the Report and Recommendation of the Honorable Veronica L. Duffy, United States Magistrate Judge for the District of South Dakota.

-2- Stevenson was handcuffed and searched. Officers found a wad of cash, a hotel key, and 16 grams of meth. They did not find a firearm. Officers then executed the search warrant of the hotel room and found additional meth.

Stevenson moved to suppress the evidence seized from his person, claiming that his detention and arrest were unlawful. See U.S. Const. Amend. IV. The district court, modifying and adopting a magistrate judge recommendation, denied the motion. It held Stevenson’s detention a proper exercise of the search warrant’s implicit authorization to detain occupants during a search. See Michigan v. Summers, 452 U.S. 692 (1981); Bailey v. United States, 568 U.S. 186 (2013); United States v. Freeman, 964 F.3d 774 (8th Cir. 2020). The court alternatively held that the officers had reasonable suspicion to detain Stevenson under Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968), and probable cause to arrest him when he tried to flee.

A jury convicted Stevenson of conspiring to distrib