Mistake of fact in running license voided stop

Officer’s mistake of fact in transposing numbers on a license plate when submitting them to be run created a Fourth Amendment violation when the defendant’s stop occurred. McDonald v. State, 947 A.2d 1073 (Del. 2008).*

Plain feel did not apply to a folded dollar bill that was touched and moved past in a search. Going back to it violated Dickerson. Perkins v. State, 979 So. 2d 409 (Ill. 1 DCA 2008).*

Detaining a “person of interest” without probable cause two days after a homicide that led to a search producing a gun was unreasonable. The seriousness of the crime under investigation did not matter. Buckley v. State, 2008 Ind. App. LEXIS 958 (May 1, 2008):

In the instant case, the State essentially argues that its actions were reasonable because Buckley was a prime suspect in a recent homicide. While we certainly understand the seriousness of the crime being investigated, such does not in and of itself constitute an exigent circumstance or any other exception to the warrant requirement. A review of the totality of the circumstances reveals that the police acted too hastily in seizing Buckley and Buckley’s vehicle before any warrants had been issued.

Comment: The sliding scale of exigency often (but not constitutionally) favors a finding of exigency when the crime is more serious. Here it did not.