No. 22-2282 ___________________________

United States of America

Plaintiff - Appellee

v.

Dywan Lamar Conley

Defendant - Appellant ____________

Appeal from United States District Court for the District of Minnesota ____________

Submitted: February 16, 2023 Filed: June 6, 2023 ____________ Before COLLOTON, BENTON, and KELLY, Circuit Judges. ____________ KELLY, Circuit Judge.

A handgun was found in Dywan Conley’s jacket pocket while he was being treated in a hospital emergency room for a gunshot wound. After the district court1 denied his motion to suppress, Conley conditionally pleaded guilty to possessing a

1 The Honorable Susan Richard Nelson, United States District Judge for the District of Minnesota, adopting the report and recommendation of the Honorable Becky R. Thorson, United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Minnesota. firearm after having been convicted of a felony. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1), 924(a)(2).2 He appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress, and we affirm.

I.

In the early morning of April 15, 2021, Conley suffered a gunshot wound to his leg and asked a man to “run him to the hospital.” Conley was dropped off at the emergency room of the Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) in downtown Minneapolis, where emergency room staff promptly placed him on a gurney and moved him to a stabilization room. Once there, medical staff discovered a bullet hole in Conley’s left thigh and immediately prepared to treat what appeared to be a potentially life-threatening injury. The staff asked Conley if they could remove his clothes and shoes, explaining that they needed to assess the full extent of his injuries, but Conley refused.3 Over the next five minutes, medical staff urged Conley to cooperate and stressed the gravity of his condition. A nurse told Conley that the bullet could have traveled to his neck, risking paralysis. And a doctor explained to him that he could be suffering from internal bleeding and needed to be treated “fast,” as he was “getting closer to dying.”

Conley was sitting upright on his gurney during these initial encounters. An HCMC “protection officer”—a security officer employed directly by the hospital— soon approached Conley, placed a hand on him, and attempted to guide Conley into a more recumbent position. Conley yelled in protest, kicked his feet, and tried to get off the gurney, prompting the protection officer and two of his colleagues to hold Conley down with their hands and bodies. As Conley yelled “I don’t want to! No!

2 The former 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(2) has since been amended and recodified at § 924(a)(8). 3 The events described here were captured by body cameras worn by law enforcement officers, who were on the scene to provide security to HCMC staff and, later, to question Conley about the incident that resulted in his gunshot wound. -2- No! Y’all can’t make me do nothing,” a nurse administered two injections of medication into his right leg.

The protection officers continued to restrain Conley while medical staff provided treatment. One of the officers, who had his elbow and forearm pressed against Conley’s body, then summoned a sheriff’s deputy standing nearby 4 and told the deputy that Conley was “strapped,” which the deputy understood to mean that Conley was carrying a firearm. The deputy ordered medical staff to step away from the gurney, immediately began to