by Douglas Ankney
The law of the land is that the “search incident to arrest” exception to the warrant requirement does not apply to the contents of a cellphone. But what about seizures of cellphones? Has the rule become, “I can take your phone because I’m a cop?”
Police officers …
by Doug Ankney
A unanimous Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) held that the “community caretaking” function of police announced in Cady v. Dombrowski, 413 U.S. 433 (1973), which permits police to search an impounded vehicle without a warrant, does not create a standalone exception to the warrant …
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit extended the holding in Arizona v. Gant, 556 U.S. 332 (2009) (vehicle may be searched incident to arrest without a warrant if police reasonably believe that the arrestee “could have accessed his car at the time of …
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Texas held that under Article 55.01(a)(2)(A) of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure multiple misdemeanor offenses charged in a single arrest are eligible for expunction on an individual basis.
R.P.G.P. was arrested for a misdemeanor driving while intoxicated (“DWI”) offense. An inventory search …
by Douglas Ankney
While former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin stood trial for the murder of George Floyd, police in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, shot and killed 20-year-old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop. Protesters assembled outside Brooklyn Center’s police headquarters.
The crowd control tactics inflicted upon the protesters were of …
by Doug Ankney
The city of Opa-Locka, Florida, recently terminated Police Sergeant German Bosque's employment for the seventh time. Once dubbed "Florida's Worst Cop," Bosque had worked with the Opa-Locka Police Department for 28 years and was fired seven times for violations ranging from excessive force, stealing from suspects, and …
by Doug Ankney
According to a study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (“PENN”), testing of the accuracy of seven smartphone breath alcohol testing devices revealed each device underestimated Blood-Alcohol Concentration (“BAC”) by more than 0.01%. To assess these devices, researchers used 20 moderate drinkers …
by Doug Ankney
Melanie Bailey, a forensic scientist at the University of Surrey, revealed that by using a high-resolution mass spectrometry (“HRMS”) method to detect cocaine in fingerprints, she and her team can now distinguish between fingerprints left by persons who had ingested cocaine and fingerprints left by persons who …
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Connecticut ruled that under Massiah v. United States, 377 U.S. 201 (1964), and its progeny, a jailhouse informant can be an agent of the State—even in the absence of any formal agreement between the government and an informant—and use of evidence obtained by …
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California’s denial of qualified immunity with respect to officers who coerced a 13-year-old boy to falsely confess to a murder.
A security …
