On February 1, 2013, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decided Myers v. Baltimore County, Maryland [i], in which the court defined some boundaries regarding the reasonable use of a TASER.  The facts of Myers taken directly from the case are as follows: Ryan Meyers was forty years old at the time of his death. He had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of fifteen, and struggled with this mental illness throughout his adulthood. He "dropped out" of school after the ninth grade, and lived with his parents his entire life. Prior to the events at issue, the Meyers family had contacted [...]

On January 22, 2013, the Supreme Court of Georgia decided Rashid v. State [i] which among other things, involved the admission in court of a recorded conversation between the suspect and family members in the police interview room after a Miranda violation.  The facts of Rashid, taken directly from the case are as follows: Rashid immigrated to the United States from Pakistan following the death of his wife. After he remarried, his four children, including Kanwal, emigrated from Pakistan and began living with him. Upon the insistence of Rashid, in 2005 Kanwal married her first cousin in order to permit the cousin entry into the [...]

On July 10, 2013, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decided the United States v. Jeter [i] which serves as an excellent review of constitutional law as it pertains to seizures of persons that run from the police.  The facts of Jeter, taken directly from the case, are as follows: On May 10, 2011, several police officers from the Toledo Police Department ("TPD") were on patrol near downtown Toledo, Ohio. While patrolling their assigned area, they came to a shopping center on the corner of Franklin and Bancroft Street. The shopping center, which contained very few stores, was located in an area from [...]

On July 15, 2013, the First Circuit Court of Appeals decided the United States v. Mouscardy [i], which serves as an excellent review of the law related to reasonable suspicion and frisks.  The facts of Mouscardy are as follows: On March 11, 2010, at approximately 12:30 p.m., an individual called 911 to report an assault at the corner of Belmont and Ferry Streets on the boundary of Everett and Malden, Massachusetts. The call was routed to the Everett Police Department. The caller reported that he saw a "man beating up his girlfriend or his wife," adding that the man was "giving it to her [...]

On May 23, 2013, the Court of Appeals of Georgia decided Daniels v. State [i] , which serves as an excellent review of the law as it pertains to the levels of officer / citizen encounters.  The facts of Daniels are as follows: [O]fficers were conducting a roadblock at about 10:30 p.m. They observed a red Pontiac approach within 75 yards of the roadblock before suddenly turning off of the road and into the parking lot of a closed motel. Believing the driver's sudden turn into the parking lot to be suspicious, an officer drove to the parking lot to investigate. As he entered [...]

On May 13, 2013, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided Gonzales v. City of Anaheim et al. [i], which serves as an excellent review of the law as it pertains to reasonable force.  The facts of Gonzales, taken directly from the case, are as follows: On September 25, 2009, at 2:00 AM in the morning, Officers Daron Wyatt and Matthew Ellis, members of the Anaheim Police Department, were responding to a routine call to check on a transient. While turning left at an intersection they were cut off by a van driven by Adolf Anthony Sanchez Gonzalez. Gonzalez made an illegal left turn [...]