United States v. Lake
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
150 F.3d 269 (1998)
Lake (defendant) approached Milton Clarke on a beach and eventually pulled a gun, demanding his car keys; when Clarke said he didn't have them, Lake walked Clarke into the water, where Clarke saw and warned his friend Pamela Croaker on the beach. Lake then held a gun to Croaker's head and took her car keys after a struggle; both Croaker and Clarke, badly frightened, made their way up to the parking lot, which wasn't visible from the beach, only to see Lake driving away in Croaker's car. Lake was convicted of using a gun during a carjacking and appealed, arguing he only took the keys from Croaker's person, not her car from her presence, since the car wasn't visible or reachable to her when Lake drove off.
Whether a car is considered in the presence of a carjacking victim if it is within the victim's reach, observation, or control so that the victim could have retained possession of it had violence or fear not intervened.