W.D.La.: Being asleep in a running car with a gun in lap is RS

Police found a car stopped with the engine running and the driver unconscious or asleep with a gun in his lap. That justified further inquiry, and the officer’s actions were with reasonable suspicion. The fact his hands came up without the gun doesn’t mean a thing. The frisk of his person was reasonable. United States v. Edmond, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 149652 (W.D. La. Sep. 4, 2018).*

A park ranger searched defendant’s car and found hash oil and a baggie that strongly smelled of marijuana and an alcohol prep pad for injecting. Defendant was overly protective of letting the officer in his backpack, and the court finds nexus from the car to the backpack. The search warrant for a backpack specifically expecting marijuana wasn’t unreasonable because it sought controlled substances in general. United States v. Hanson, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150938 (E.D. Tenn. Sep. 5, 2018).*

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