Officer Safety Rationale Justified Officers' Ordering Defendant to Put Hands on Head

U.S. v. Holt, 2006 WL 2022907 (7/20/06)(unpub'd) - The 10th bows to the almighty "officer safety." It was okay to order the defendant to put his hands on top of his head, (exposing a firearm), where: at an arrestee's request, an officer called the defendant and asked him to pick up some of the arrestee's belongings at the arrestee's apartment; as the officers were taking the arrestee out of the apartment elevator, the arrestee recognized the defendant: "That's my homeboy;" the defendant kept walking towards the officers until he was two feet from them and, according to the officer, "showed no signs of stopping." The 10th agreed with the d.ct.'s explanation that noted the officers' training and experience and that the defendant was an associate of the arrestee.