{"id":8462,"date":"2013-08-28T07:25:55","date_gmt":"2013-03-06T08:45:06","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-03-06T08:45:06","slug":"en-US","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/?p=8462","title":{"rendered":"GA: Knock-and-talk led to plain smell and detaining owner who just came home; consent valid"},"content":{"rendered":"

Officers came to defendant\u2019s house to do a knock-and-talk and found the unmistakable smell of a meth lab but nobody home. One stayed and the others left to get a search warrant. Defendant and her brother came home, and they were stopped from entering, which was lawful. After 25 minutes, she consented to a search of her house, and it was voluntary on the totality. Durham v. State<\/a>, 320 Ga. App. 81, 739 S.E.2d 389 (2013).*<\/p>\n

Defendants were stopped for driving too close when suspected of driving in tandem on I-40 in Texas. The defense offered two expert witnesses (an accident reconstructionist and police instructor) that the cars were not too close based on the video. The USMJ determined that the video was not conclusive and credited the officer\u2019s testimony, and that was sufficient for appeal. After the computer checks came back clean, the officer handed back the paperwork, and defendant consented to a search. The officer didn\u2019t find anything but noticed that the car appeared to have been altered by various toolmarks. Defendant consented to a further consent search at the local DPS office, and cocaine was found. The consents were valid. United States v. Wallstrum<\/a>, 515 Fed. Appx. 343 (5th Cir. 2013).*<\/p>\n

Defendant\u2019s stop was based on his failing to signal a lane change that could have affected other traffic nearby. What does affected other traffic mean? After analyzing the facts and law, \u201cOfficer Valdez’s vague testimony fails to satisfy the Government’s burden of proving that the officer had an objectively reasonable suspicion that Defendant violated the turn signal law when he switched from the right lane to the left lane.\u201d United States v. Burciaga, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 157005 (D. N.M. May 2, 2011).*<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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