E.D.Tenn.: Passenger’s seatbelt violation supports stop

The officer testified that the reason for this stop was that the passenger wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. The court credits the officer, and nothing, including the video, disproves it. “Given Posey’s vast experience detecting seatbelt violations, it is entirely plausible that he observed Defendant’s violation. Posey credibly explained that he has made hundreds of seatbelt violation stops, has experience in detecting such violations, and had a better vantage point to see the seatbelt violation at issue than the vantage point reflected in the dashboard recording. The recording also supports Posey’s testimony that, in spite of the slight tint on the Trailblazer’s windows, he could see the seatbelt violation through the windows. Posey’s observation is corroborated by Dockery who also testified that he observed the same seatbelt violation.” United States v. Blakemore, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36152 (E.D. Tenn. Jan. 27, 2017),* adopted, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35922 (E.D. Tenn. Mar. 14, 2017).*

Despite the number of officers at his house, defendant was outside and not in custody when he was talking to the FBI about child pornography. Therefore, Miranda warnings were not required. United States v. Blanchard, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37224 (W.D. La. Feb. 17, 2017),* adopted, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37399 (W.D. La. Mar. 14, 2017).*

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