©2012 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, PATC Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) On September 24, 2012, the Court of Appeals of Georgia decided Williams v. State [i], which serves as an excellent review of constitutional law and Georgia law regarding roadblocks.  The facts of Williams, taken directly from the case are as follows: The evidence shows that the decision to implement the roadblock was made solely by Sergeant Bruce Jordan, a supervisory officer of the Bibb County HEAT unit, a state-funded patrol whose main purpose is conducting sobriety checks. Captain Henry Colbert, the HEAT unit's commanding officer, gave Jordan supervisory authority of the unit [...]

©2012 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, PATC Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) Many law enforcement officers work some form of secondary employment while off-duty to supplement their income.  In most cases, these law enforcement officers work with the approval of their agency, and they wear their official uniform.  In circumstances such as this, the general rule is that these officers are typically considered acting in their official capacity as government officials when they use their law enforcement authority during secondary employment.  However, there are exceptions to the general rule.  On June 5, 2012, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals decided [...]

©2012 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, PATC Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) On June 19, 2012, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decided the United States v. Jackson [i], which serves as an excellent review of the law related to inventory searches of automobiles.  The facts of Jackson, taken directly from the case, are as follows: During a roll call meeting on the afternoon of August 17, 2010, supervisors at the Akron, Ohio, Police Department ("APD") issued a "BOLO" (be on the lookout) alert for a suspect involved in a recent nightclub shooting. The suspect was thought to be driving a black Chevrolet [...]

©2012 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, PATC Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) On March 21, 2012, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided Anderson v. City of Bainbridge Island, et al. [i], in which they held that officers acted reasonably in briefly pointing their guns at a vehicle pursuit suspect.  While the case seems relatively simple and is an unpublished opinion, it does illustrate the general practice by the courts to be cautious about second-guessing an officer’s assessment of danger in any given situation.  The facts of Anderson are as follows: Sometime after midnight on October 28, 2007, Officers Christopherson and Roche were [...]

©2012 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, PATC Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) On March 15, 2012, the Court of Appeals of Georgia decided Hatcher v. State [i] in which the court discussed whether a person other than the actual subscriber has a reasonable expectation of privacy in Internet Service Provider (ISP) subscriber information.  The facts of Hatcher are as follows: The evidence in this case shows that an investigator with the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office learned that someone was using a computer in Cherokee County to share child pornography on the Internet. The investigator ascertained that the Internet Protocol (IP) address used by the [...]

©2012 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, PATC Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) It is well established that a free air sniff by a police canine of the exterior of an automobile during the normal time frame for a traffic stop does not implicate the Fourth Amendment.  This is because a person does not possess a reasonable expectation of privacy in the odors emanating from their vehicle and the canine is in a place he is lawfully allowed to be – particularly outside of the car in a public place. On July 27, 2012, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decided the United States v. [...]