Judge Rosemary Pooler
District court convicted Freeman of possessing a firearm after a felony conviction. Freeman had sought to suppress a gun discovered by police on the ground that he was stopped without reasonable suspicion, as the stop was based on two anonymous 911 calls from the same caller—who could not be recontacted by the 911 operator, and whose identity remains unknown. Reversing district court’s judgment, and remanding the case for further proceedings, Second Circuit concluded that the police lacked “reasonable suspicion” to have stopped Freeman by use of a “bear hug” shortly before a brief struggle after which police removed a handgun from Freeman’s waistband. Discussing the Supreme Court’s ruling in Florida v. J.L., the court emphasized that an uncorroborated anonymous tip—even when proved accurate in both the description of an individual’s appearance and location—is an insufficient basis for a stop under Terry v. Ohio. Also, that Freeman’s encounter with the police occurred late at night in a “high crime area” did not enhance the reliability of the anonymous 911 calls. As police lacked reasonable suspicion, Freeman had the right to ignore the officers and continue to walk in the same direction and at the same pace.
