Category Archives: Uncategorized

When a person is ordered out of a car, he certainly doesn’t abandon that which is left in the car. Here, the officers didn’t even ask about the defendant’s coat, and one officer testified he believed it was defendant’s because … Continue reading →

Officer’s reaching into a seat pocket in a Long protective weapons frisk was reasonable. These searches are not constrained like a Gant search incident to a search for evidence of the offense for which defendant was stopped. They are instead … Continue reading →

A man on a bus saw defendant on the bus with a gun, and he called 911 and described him. That was reasonable suspicion for his stop and frisk. United States v. Woods, 747 F.3d 552 (8th Cir. 2014)*:

The cell phone in this case was expressly tied to the offense, and the investigation was far enough along that inevitable discovery applied to it. AFOSI had a warrant for defendant’s person for the cell phone but found it elsewhere. … Continue reading →

Wall St. Cheat Sheet: Backdoor Exploitation of Surveillance Rules Shows Need For More Reform by Anthea Mitchell:

WaPo: US appeals ruling to let lawyers see secret files by AP:

The Recorder: Stanford’s Jeffrey Fisher and Riley v. California by Scott Graham:

Virginia law provides a defense to possession of a handgun on one’s own curtilage, but curtilage isn’t defined. The court looks to the common law, and provides us a valuable discussion. Foley v. Commonwealth, 2014 Va. App. LEXIS 107 (March … Continue reading →

NYT: Letter Tells of U.S. Searches for Emails and Calls by Charlie Savage:

Atlantic: What I Learned About Stop-and-Frisk From Watching My Black Son by Christopher E. Smith:

Politico: Feds mull DNA testing by Josh Gerstein:

SCOTUSBlog: Petition of the day The petition of the day is: Heien v. North Carolina. Issue: Whether a police officer’s mistake of law can provide the individualized suspicion that the Fourth Amendment requires to justify a traffic stop.

NJLJ: Court Weighs Duty To Indemnify for Lost Evidence in Dead Criminal Case by Michael Booth:

The affidavit for the search warrant here was totally lacking in probable cause. It alleged only that defendant’s house used more electricity than his neighbors, that he was believed to have transported marijuana at an unknown time, and he was … Continue reading →

Officers observed one of their regulars doing a likely hand-to-hand sale with a car that pulled up in front of him, and they followed him. Next, Clark was running down the street at them, and they stopped him. Protruding from … Continue reading →

The Hawai’i implied consent law is not unconstitutional under McNeely. State v. Won, 2014 Haw. App. LEXIS 147 (March 28, 2014):

WaPo: The drug war exception to the Fourth Amendment by Radley Balko:

Defendant was stopped for no headlights, and the officers could smell marijuana and suspected he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. When he was handcuffed and arrested, the car was subject to search incident for the source, and … Continue reading →

Defendant was driving an ATV on the road, and an officer pursued. Defendant eluded the officer, but the officer found the ATV behind a house. The officer went to the door, a woman named Parrot answered, and the officer came … Continue reading →

Apparent hand to hand exchange of cash for something else in a high crime area where it happens all the time and this officer had made hundreds of arrests was reasonable suspicion for a stop. The officer talked to defendant, … Continue reading →