United States v. Terrell Simpson

── United States v. Terrell Simpson ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Date: June 02, 2026 Category: General United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 25-1263 ___________________________ United States of America Plaintiff - Appellee v. Terrell Simpson Defendant - Appellant ____________ Appeal from United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri - Kansas City ____________ Submitted: December 16, 2025 Filed: June 2, 2026 ____________ Before GRUENDER, KELLY, and ERICKSON, Circuit Judges. ____________ KELLY, Circuit Judge. Terrell Simpson was convicted after trial on one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He appeals, arguing that the district court erred at trial by admitting evidence of an anonymous tip. We agree, and therefore reverse, vacate Simpson’s conviction, and remand.  I. On May 10, 2020, Kansas City police received an anonymous tip that Terrell Simpson, who had been convicted of a felony, was in possession of a gun. Detective Rorabaugh followed up and found that both Simpson and his wife, Kenya Turner, had active arrest warrants. The next day, Rorabaugh and his partner went to Turner’s apartment, where they saw Turner’s car1 leaving with Simpson in the passenger seat. After following the car for several blocks, Rorabaugh asked a marked police unit to make a traffic stop. Officers Schoolfield and Votaw then initiated a stop and ordered Turner and Simpson out of the car.2 As Turner’s car stopped, Schoolfield said, “Passenger digging.” Because of the tip, the officers considered the stop a “high- alert car check,” and thus, they gave loud, specific commands to Turner and Simpson and approached the car with their guns drawn. Turner and Simpson followed the officers’ instructions, got out of the car, and were both arrested. The officers searched the car and found a gun inside a purse on the floor of the passenger seat. Simpson was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Before trial, Simpson filed a motion in limine to exclude any testimony about the tip, asserting it was inadmissible hearsay and violated his Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause rights. The government opposed the motion, arguing the tip would not be offered for its truth but to provide context for the tone and manner of the traffic stop. Simpson responded that neither the propriety of the stop nor the officers’ conduct in carrying it out was at issue. Simpson also proffered alternative ways to provide the jury with any necessary context or to eliminate the need to do so. The district court denied the motion, finding the tip could be offered as “context and to give the jury a better understanding of why the stop was conducted 1 The person driving the car was later identified as Turner. 2 The government presented evidence of the traffic stop in the form of dash camera footage from Schoolfield and Votaw’s police car. -2- in the manner in which it was.” Accordingly, the government could say that the officers received a tip, believed Simpson might be armed, and knew Simpson had an outstanding warrant for his arrest. Simpson again proposed evidentiary alternatives, which he asserted met the government’s need to explain the officers’ conduct without having to introduce the tip. The court declined to reconsider its ruling. The next day, Simpson moved for a mistrial, arguing that admission of the tip into evidence was unduly pr