LA1: Opening car door to check for others after speeding stop was reasonable where windows were overtinted

Defendant was seen at 10 pm on radar going 94 in a 35, and the officer gave chase for over four miles, sometimes clocking defendant at 135. When finally stopped and with defendant in the police car, the officer went to the car and opened the darkly tinted door to see if anyone else was inside. This was reasonable. The officer testified that people have been hidden on the floorboard before, and the trial court credited that. State v. Parker, 2024 La. App. LEXIS 1058 (La. App. 1 Cir June 27. 2024).

Officers had no reasonable suspicion to frisk defendant. One thing they relied on was he raised his arms getting out of the car, which shows the court he was not reaching for a weapon or contraband. United States v. Nance, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 113720 (D. Kan. June 26, 2024).*

“[W]e are convinced that — when, as Martin alleges happened, the appellants violently busted out the windows of her vehicle and yanked her through the broken driver’s side window by her hair and arm — every reasonable officer would have understood that what he was doing was unlawful, whether by then-existing precedent or by the otherwise obvious illegality of that outrageous conduct. See Dist. of Columbia v. Wesby, 583 U.S. 48, 63-64 (2018). We therefore affirm the district court’s denial of the appellants’ summary judgment request for qualified immunity on Martin’s § 1983 excessive force claim.” Martin v. Short, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 15684 (4th Cir. June 27, 2024).*