United States v. Melvin Maxwell

── United States v. Melvin Maxwell ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Date: June 09, 2026 Category: General USCA4 Appeal: 24-4640 Doc: 37 Filed: 06/09/2026 Pg: 1 of 8 UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 24-4640 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. MELVIN ANTONIO EUGENE MAXWELL, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Spartanburg. Henry M. Herlong, Jr., Senior District Judge. (7:24-cr-00281-HMH-1) Submitted: April 13, 2026 Decided: June 9, 2026 Before AGEE and WYNN, Circuit Judges, and FLOYD, Senior Circuit Judge. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. ON BRIEF: Kimberly H. Albro, Assistant Federal Public Defender, OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellant. Matthew R. Galeotti, Thomas E. Booth, Appellate Section, Criminal Division, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C.; Bryan P. Stirling, United States Attorney, Charleston, South Carolina, Kathleen Stoughton, Assistant United States Attorney, Columbia, South Carolina, Maxwell B. Cauthen, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Greenville, South Carolina, for Appellee. USCA4 Appeal: 24-4640 Doc: 37 Filed: 06/09/2026 Pg: 2 of 8 Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. 2 USCA4 Appeal: 24-4640 Doc: 37 Filed: 06/09/2026 Pg: 3 of 8 PER CURIAM: In November 2023, Officer Brandon Dorsett of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina noticed a Nissan in the left-most lane (the passing lane) driving slowly enough that vehicles were needing to pass it on its right. He followed the Nissan in the passing lane for “about a half a mile” before turning on his blue lights to pull the Nissan over. J.A. 33. 1 Upon approach of the vehicle, Dorsett smelled “an overwhelming odor of marijuana” and called for backup. J.A. 34. Dorsett told the driver, Melvin Maxwell, that he had been driving too slowly in the passing lane, in violation of South Carolina law. After running Maxwell’s license, Dorsett returned to the Nissan and asked Maxwell about the smell of the marijuana emanating from the vehicle. Maxwell denied having any marijuana. Dorsett then reached into the vehicle and unlocked the passenger door, at which point Maxwell hit the accelerator and sped off. Dorsett pursued Maxwell by car, but Maxwell eventually crashed his vehicle and took off on foot. With the assistance of other officers, Dorsett detained Maxwell. With Maxwell detained, Dorsett and other officers proceeded to search Maxwell’s vehicle. Dorsett began his search in the trunk of the car, where he found a firearm, marijuana, and cocaine. Maxwell was charged by grand jury with possession of a firearm as a felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), and possession of cocaine and crack cocaine, in 1 Citations to the “J.A.” refer to the Joint Appendix filed by the parties in this appeal. 3 USCA4 Appeal: 24-4640 Doc: 37 Filed: 06/09/2026 Pg: 4 of 8 violation of 21 U.S.C. § 844(a). Maxwell filed a motion to suppress the evidence obtained from the search of his vehicle, arguing both that the initial stop was impermissible and that police lacked probable cause to search