On October 1, 2012, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals decided Storey v. Taylor, et al. [i] which is instructive regarding constitutional law related to police response to domestic disputes.  In Storey, the Los Lunas, New Mexico Police Department received an anonymous call reporting a loud argument at Storey’s residence.  Sergeant Taylor and another officer were dispatched to investigate. When the officers arrived at Storey’s residence they heard no argument and saw no signs of violence.  They knocked on Storey’s door and he answered.  The officer’s belt tape recorder captured much of the conversation. During the conversation, Storey told the officers that he [...]

On November 8, 2012, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals decided the United States v. Coleman [i], which serves as an excellent review of traffic stop and vehicle search law.  The facts of Coleman are as follows: On July 31, 2010, Coleman was driving his motor home on Interstate 80 in Hall County, Nebraska. Nebraska State Patrol Trooper Jason Bauer observed two vehicles with Florida license plates traveling eastbound on Interstate 80 under the posted speed limit. Trooper Bauer began following the vehicles and observed the second vehicle, Coleman's motor home, swerve. The passenger-side tires of the motor home twice crossed over the fog [...]

On November 7, 2012, the First Circuit Court of Appeals decided the United States v. Rabbia [i], which serves as an excellent review of reasonable suspicion, Terry stops, and de facto arrests.  The facts of Rabbia, taken directly from the case, are as follows: At 11:00 p.m. on September 3, 2008, police detectives Derek Sullivan and Emmett Macken were patrolling an area in downtown Manchester, New Hampshire they knew to be the site of significant drug trafficking activity. Sullivan and Macken were members of the Manchester Police Department's Street Crime Unit, a plain clothes unit assigned to urban neighborhoods with high rates of criminal activity. [...]

©2012 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, PATC Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) On July 17, 2012, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided the United States v. Pope [i] in which they analyzed, under the Fourth Amendment, an officer’s command to a suspect to empty his pockets.  The facts of Pope are as follows: On August 16, 2009, Forest Law Enforcement Officer Marcus drove to a large gathering of people in the El Dorado National Forest after receiving reports of loud music and use of a public address system. He was the only officer at the scene. Pope approached Officer Marcus after Officer [...]

©2012 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, PATC Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) On November 5, 2012, the Supreme Court of Georgia decided Registe v. State [i] which provides excellent guidance regarding the release of non-content cellular phone records.  The facts of Registe are as follows: The record shows that Registe has been indicted for the July 20, 2007 murder of two men who were shot in the head some time after borrowing a car from Lawrence Kidd. The next morning, Kidd told police that the victims were going to meet someone named “Mike,” and Kidd provided Mike's cell phone number. Using this cell number, [...]

©2012 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, PATC Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) Law enforcement officers are often called to conduct “stand-bys” for repossession agents (“repo-agents”) as they conduct self-help repossession of behalf of creditors.  Self-help repossession is simply repossession of collateral based on terms of a contract rather than a court order.  This is often allowed pursuant to state law, as long as a breach of the peace does not occur.  Typically, law enforcement officers are called to the scene of self-help repossessions in order to prevent violence or to keep the peace.  However, law enforcement officers must be mindful [...]