©2012 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, PATC Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) When a person is subjected to custodial questioning by law enforcement, he or she must be advised of their rights under Miranda v. Arizona.  One of the rights under Miranda is the right to have an attorney present during questioning.  On March 27, 2012, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals decided the United States v. Hampton [i], which serves as an excellent review of the law regarding a suspect’s invocation of his right to counsel.  The facts of Hampton, taken directly from the case, are as follows: Shortly after midnight on September 25, 2008, [...]

©2012 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, PATC Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) On March 8, 2012, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals decided the United States v. Robinson [i], which serves as an excellent review of the law regarding investigative detentions.  The facts of Robinson are as follows: During the early morning hours of September 26, 2009, Tony Robinson was expelled from a nightclub in Little Rock, Arkansas, after he engaged in an altercation with another person inside the club. After the club's owner asked that Robinson be removed, Robinson continued to argue with another patron in the club. Alicia Smith, an off-duty police [...]

©2012 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, PATC Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) On March 22, 2012, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals decided the United States v. Aquino [i], which serves as an excellent review for Constitutional law related to stops and searches of persons.  The facts of Aquino, taken directly from the case are as follows: Four officers involved in the Commercial Interdiction Unit (CIU) of the Nebraska State Patrol met at the Omaha Bus Depot on February 8, 2010, to intercept people who may be transporting controlled substances or illegal items while riding the bus. A Greyhound bus arrived from Denver on [...]

©2012 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, PATC Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) On March 23, 2012, in Hawkins v. State [i], the Supreme Court of Georgia addressed the issue of whether a cellular phone may lawfully be searched as part of a search incident to arrest of an automobile.  The facts of Hawkins, taken from the decision of Court of Appeals of Georgia, are as follows: [A]n officer with the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office was contacted by a mother, who said that numerous text messages about narcotics were being sent to her son's cell phone, and who delivered the cell phone to the [...]

©2012 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, PATC Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) On March 9, 2012, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decided Clark v. City of San Antonio, et al. [i] which serves as an excellent review of the legal requirements regarding the knock and announce rule when executing a warrant.  The facts of Clark, taken directly from the case, are as follows: On April 27, 2009, a confidential informant told Detective Arcuri that he had purchased methamphetamine from a man named "Randy" at a home in Leon Valley, a small municipality entirely encompassed within the City of San Antonio. The [...]

©2012 Lou Reiter, Co-Director, PATC Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) Police organizations used to advocate regular staff inspections of various agency operations. [i] That was considered to be a sign of a professional organization.  Somewhere in the ensuing years that practice seems to have been lost.  We need to reinstitute this practice and focus it towards the high risk, high liability aspects of our job.  That’s not only being professional; it’s being wise with today’s increased litigation potential. As a police agency you need to focus on those aspects of your operations that present the most significant potential of [...]