In this case, police in Stuart, Florida were notified that there was a domestic disturbance taking place in a camper parked at the residence of the defendant (Babcock). Officers were told that a female could be heard yelling “Stop, stop, stop.” Deputy Olson responded to the disturbance call. When Olson arrived, she knocked on the […]
The use of handcuffs doesn’t necessarily turn a Terry Stop into a de facto arrest. The defendant and two other men were detained under a Terry Stop. The officers told the men they were not under arrest and did not Mirandize them. The officers then conducted a Terry Frisk and handcuffed the men during the […]
In this case, Trooper Ramsey of the Kentucky State Police noticed a car doing 63 in a 70 mph zone. He ran the plates and discovered the registered owner had a warrant for her arrest. He pulled the vehicle over and when approaching the car he saw Pyles stuffing something under a pile of clothes […]
This was a civil suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 for Fourth Amendment violations as a result of a traffic stop that led to a patdown frisk at gunpoint. LEOs had a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity (child molestation fugitive) to stop a truck. Furthermore, officers had a reasonable suspicion that plaintiff was presently armed and […]
The defendant in this case argued the officers who stopped him did so only because of his race. The court disagreed, holding that the defendant was “one of only a handful” of African Americans at the scene shortly after the crime occurred and the perpetrators had been described as African Americans. There was a host […]
Armed and Therefore Dangerous At 0400 police respond to a noise complaint at a Des Moines motel. When the police arrive they find 30 people in a motel room and no one claims to be the person who rented the room. The police also notice known gang members in the room. When ordered to leave […]
Reasonable Belief that a Person Has Authority The defendant, a convicted felon, was on supervised release when law enforcement officers stopped a vehicle in which he was a passenger. Reasonable suspicion the occupants were involved in bank fraud led to a Terry Stop, the Terry Stop led to consent to search the vehicle, and the […]
Vaccaro was stopped for running a red light and as officers approached his car he rapidly and aggressively leaned over to the passenger seat and then over into the backseat area all within 5 seconds. The officers thought he was going for a weapon and ordered him out of the car at gunpoint and then […]
At 0100 three officers are dispatched to a neighborhood in Davenport, Iowa to respond to “shots fired” disturbance complaints. This neighborhood accounted for nearly a third of all shots fired calls for the preceding ten-month period. When they arrived, the officers spotted Houston with their flashlights. Houston ran and did not stop when they commanded […]
A woman dials 911 and tells the dispatcher that a man with braided hair wearing a red hat is beating up his girlfriend and is about to kill her. The woman also states she thinks the man has a gun. She provides the location and then she hangs up. Police were in the area and […]