James Eric Larremore v. United States

Larremore was driving on a highway when a sheriff’s deputy, who was parked along the highway, pulled out, sped to catch up to him, and then followed closely behind him. In response to the deputy’s driving, Larremore signaled and parked on the shoulder. The deputy stopped behind him, approached, and spoke with him about his travel. After some questioning, during which the deputy made physical contact with Larremore’s truck, the deputy instructed Larremore to “hang on a sec,” while the deputy walked back towards his cruiser before diverting to further inspect the trailer Larremore was hauling. He did not have a reasonable suspicion to justify the seizure at that point. Larremore and the deputy spoke outside of the trailer for over fifteen minutes, during which the deputy developed probable cause to search the trailer and found that Larremore was transporting people with the intent to further their unlawful presence in the United States. 1. Whether the deputy’s instruction to “hang on a sec,” particularly in context, communicated to a reasonable person in Larremore’s position that he was not free to leave and, therefore, seized for Fourth Amendment purposes.