United States v. Tony Lawrence Gust

After entering a conditional guilty plea, Tony Lawrence Gust appeals his judgment of conviction for possession of an unregistered firearm in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 5861 (d). Pursuant to his plea agreement, Gust challenges the district court’s denials of his suppression motion and his renewed suppression motion, arguing that the district court erred in determining that he had no legitimate expectation of privacy in a locked container that the district court found was readily identifiable as a gun case based on its outward appearance. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We reverse the district court’s denials of Gust’s motion to suppress and his renewed motion to suppress and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I

On February 1, 2003, Officer Wade Hul-sizer of the Liberty Lake Police Department received a nonemergency call from a passerby who had observed individuals firing shotguns on private property located in a designated no-shooting zone. Officer Hulsizer drove to the scene of the reported shooting, and, upon hearing shots as he exited his patrol vehicle, called for law enforcement assistance.

Officer Hulsizer’s request was answered…