Category Archives: Community caretaking function

D.N.M.: Possession of a gun in car in Walmart parking lot wasn’t a crime and search for it under community caretaking function unreasonable

Police were called to a Walmart parking lot in Albuquerque because defendant was “unconscious” in his car in his car, and a gun was visible. The seizure of the gun and the interrogation surrounding it can’t be justified under the … Continue reading

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KS: Chance of suicide justified public safety stop

Finding a car parked in a place where people notoriously went to commit suicide justified this public safety encounter. The officer smelled marijuana coming from the car and searched it. State v. McDonald, 2023 Kan. App. LEXIS 5 (Feb. 3, … Continue reading

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D.Minn.: All theories to suppress must be raised to USMJ on referral or it’s waived

Defendant’s storage unit had the doors and handles tested with Ion Scanning. He had no reasonable expectation of privacy in that. Before the USDJ, however, he raised it was a trespass to do it as the officers did. That’s waived … Continue reading

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E.D.Mich.: No sanction for automatic purge of bodycam video of this raid

The raid in this case was recorded on bodycams but the official retention policy at the time was to hold video for only 60 days unless it was flagged to be kept despite the fact that cases take longer than … Continue reading

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D.Alaska: On reconsideration, govt revealed officer misconduct, and court finds him not credible

After defendant’s motion to suppress was denied, the government alerted the court and defense to an internal investigation of the state trooper involved just concluded where 43 instances of violation of policy and procedure were documented. The search here turned … Continue reading

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CT: Entry onto def’s deck was for community caretaking function

The officer’s entry onto defendant’s deck here was of a community caretaking function to inform defendant that a loved one was going to the hospital. It was like a knock-and-talk. State v. Kuehn, 2022 Conn. Super. LEXIS 2075 (Sep. 13, … Continue reading

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MA: Ptf stated claim for unjustified community caretaking entry to investigate alleged elder abuse

Plaintiff was caring for a 95-year-old retired priest. She stated a claim for a Fourth Amendment violation for a warrantless entry into her house, in part, under the community caretaking function without justification. Gallagher v. S. Shore Hosp., Inc., 2022 … Continue reading

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OH5: Both patdowns without RS

Defendant’s first minute-long patdown was unreasonable, but produced nothing. There was no separate reasonable suspicion for the second one. State v. Barcus, 2022-Ohio-2491, 2022 Ohio App. LEXIS 2355 (5th Dist. July 20, 2022). Police went to defendant’s house on a … Continue reading

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CA11: Absolute prosecutorial immunity doesn’t apply to failure to recall a material witness warrant leading to arrest

Absolute prosecutorial immunity does not apply to failure to recall a material witness warrant that caused a voluntary witness to be arrested later. Kassa v. Fulton Cty., Ga., 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 19762 (11th Cir. July 18, 2022). There was … Continue reading

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MT: Welfare check of car was reasonable, but extending it was without RS

The officer was justified in a welfare check of defendant sleeping in his car, but it never developed into reasonable suspicion. The stop was unreasonably extended. State v. Zeimer, 2022 MT 96, 2022 Mont. LEXIS 479 (May 24, 2022). A … Continue reading

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MI: Merely passing money to a man in car who counted it is not RS

Merely passing money to a man in car who counted it is not reasonable suspicion. People v. Soulliere, 2022 Mich. LEXIS 798 (Apr. 22, 2022). Defendant was stopped for an alleged unsafe lane change and expired Pennsylvania tags. There was … Continue reading

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D.N.M.: Community caretaking seizure of car off private property unreasonable

The impoundment of the car defendant was driving (although not his, he has standing) was unjustified. It was on private property and not impeding any traffic. The community caretaking function did not justify it. There was no standardized impoundment policy, … Continue reading

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CA6: Officer’s opening car door was reasonable when semi-conscious driver couldn’t be roused

“The officers’ conduct up to and including Officer Mino’s decision to open the car’s passenger-side door fits within their role as community caretakers. As Mino testified at the suppression hearing, Mino believed that he and Anderson were responding to a … Continue reading

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CA6: Suicide note created exigency for welfare check

Defendant’s alleged suicide note created exigency for warrantless entry. “Prior to Remillard’s trial, several Ohio courts had held that exigent circumstances permit a police officer’s warrantless entry into a home to conduct a wellness check on a suicidal individual if … Continue reading

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UT: Searching a sleeping driver unreasonable; not community caretaking function

The state’s justification of rousting a person sleeping in a car was a seizure and not justified by the community caretaking function. The state bore the burden, and it failed. This was treated by the officers as a criminal investigation … Continue reading

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SD: Call about a mere “argument” at 2:48 am didn’t support def’s stop leaving apartment parking lot

The community caretaking exception did not apply to defendant’s stop leaving an apartment parking lot at 2:48 am. A child called the police about an argument in the house, but nothing in the call or the report from dispatch indicated … Continue reading

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CO: Prosecutor’s closing argument that def refused consent to searching for DNA sample was reversible error

Prosecutor’s argument defendant refused to consent to taking his DNA in a sex crime prosecution violated the Fourth Amendment and was error here. People v. Buckner, 2022 COA 14, 2022 Colo. App. LEXIS 163 (Feb. 3, 2022). The bodycam video … Continue reading

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AL: When DEA adopts a seizure for forfeiture, state courts lose jurisdiction to return property

When there’s a seizure for forfeiture and the DEA adopts it, the state court loses jurisdiction to return it. Hare v. Mack, 2022 Ala. LEXIS 8 (Jan. 21, 2022). Police responded to a shots fired call at an apartment where … Continue reading

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M.D.Pa.: Doctor had no REP in hospital’s patient records

A doctor working at a hospital had no reasonable expectation of privacy in patient records in the hospital’s computer system. United States v. Evers, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 200425 (M.D.Pa. Oct. 18, 2021). While a probationer is subject to broad … Continue reading

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M.D.Pa.: CSLI tracking by state court order was reasonable under federal law despite alleged state law violation

Defendant’s cell phone location information search was reasonable and constitutional under federal law despite an alleged violation of state law. United States v. Coles, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 143548 (M.D.Pa. Aug. 2, 2021). There was probable cause for the search … Continue reading

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