A juvenile ward of the court admitted he committed second-degree burglary and was placed on probation. On appeal, he challenged an electronic search condition requiring him to “submit…any electronics and passwords under [his] control to search by Probation Officer or peace officer with or without a search warrant.” The Court of Appeal found the condition […]
Suicide By Cop?
When police with an arrest warrant informed a man he was under arrest, the man sped away, leading police on an 85 to 110 mile-per-hour chase. Twice the man telephoned the police dispatcher to demand the police stop chasing him, telling the dispatcher he was armed and would shoot. Other officers set up spikes at places they thought the man’s car would reach. However, one officer devised a plan to shoot at the man’s car to force the car to stop.
“Challenging Someone Equipped With A Badge, Handcuffs, And A Gun To ‘Arrest Me’ Was Unwise.” The Ninth Circuit.
This is the situation. It’s a busy juvenile court in L.A. County, and the deputy public defender [P.D.] went back to her office. The judicial officer had 53 cases to be heard and wanted the P.D. there, but the P.D. did not answer her pages or pick up her phone, even though she heard them. […]
Once Emergency Lights Activated By Police, A Driver Is Considered Detained.
A Sheriff’s department received an emergency 911 call, reporting some people were fighting in an alley behind his home. The caller said he could hear screaming and one person had said, “the gun was loaded.” The caller stayed on the line, and shortly thereafter confirmed a squad car had arrived. As an officer drove along […]
No Anti-SLAPP Protection For Wrongful Execution Of Warrant.
Plaintiff alleges Sheriff’s deputies unlawfully entered her residence on two occasions, attempting to arrest her daughter pursuant to a bench warrant which had already been recalled. In the process, she says a deputy made defamatory statements to her neighbors. She brought an action against the County, the Sheriff and the deputies. Defendants moved to strike […]
White Collar Crime.
A criminal defendant stood accused of defrauding lenders in a scheme involving submitting false information on loan applications. Witnesses who worked in defendant’s real estate agency cooperated with the government and testified against defendant at trial. A jury found her guilty of conspiracy, bank fraud, mail fraud and wire fraud. After her conviction, defendant found […]
Dog Sniffs Car Stopped For Traffic Violation.
In Illinois v. Caballes (2005) 543 U.S. 405, [125 S.Ct. 834, 160 L.Ed.2d 842], a state trooper stopped a man for speeding. A drug officer heard about the stop over the police radio and went to the location with a drug-sniffing dog. While the man sat in the trooper’s car as the trooper wrote out […]
Use Of Handcuffs On 6th Grader With ADHD Violates Fourth Amendment.
An 11-year-old child with attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder [ADHD] was sitting in a school playground being nonresponsive to teachers. The boy forgot to take his medications that morning and was right next to a busy thoroughfare. Police were called. The dispatcher broadcast the school had “an out of control juvenile.” School authorities told police the […]
Same Pornographic Story; Different Twist.
A man brought his computer in for servicing, and the repairman viewed what appeared to him “to be underage girls engaged in sexual activity.” He called the police. The responding officer indicated the images the repairman saw did not appear to be pornographic, but asked the repairman to search the rest of the computer. The […]
Prior To Cell Phones, Our Founders Wrote: “The Right Of The People To Be Secure In Their Persons, Houses, Papers, And Effects, Against Unreasonable Searches And Seizures, Shall Not Be Violated.” Fourth Amendment.
A California man was stopped for driving with expired registration. His car was impounded and an inventory search revealed loaded firearms. Incident to arrest, the man was also searched, and police seized his cell phone from his pants pocket. Police accessed information in the “smart phone,” and found significant evidence of gang involvement. In the […]