©2011 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, PATC Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) United States v. Jermaine Smith, 9th Cir. Decided February 3, 2011 On February 3, 2011, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided the United States v. Jermaine Smith. [i] , which serves as a excellent review of the law as it pertains to attempted seizures (detentions) of persons and the impact of flight by those persons.  The facts of Smith, taken directly from the case, are as follows: In 2009, Smith crossed the street in front of a patrol car driven by Officer Tyler Dominguez of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police [...]

©2011 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, PATC Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) Roberts v. Spielman 11th Cir. Decided June 14, 2011 Suicide threat calls are some of the most difficult calls for law enforcement officers due to the fact that in most states, it is not a crime to commit suicide.  As such, officers are often faced with the decisions regarding warrantless entry into homes and use of force when technically no crime has been committed.  Additionally, some states, such as Georgia, have statutes that limit the authority of police to involuntarily commit a person to a mental health facility [...]

©2011 Curt Varone, Attorney, PATC Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) Co-Director, Fire - EMS Division What is the biggest liability facing your fire department? If you ask your Fire Chief, he may tell you it is a suit by a homeowner angry over a slow response to a fire that resulted in unnecessary damage. The Chief might also suggest that rendering emergency medical care to patients poses another major concern because of the sheer volume of EMS related incidents that the fire department responds to. What the Chief probably does not realize is that the fire department is more [...]

©2011 Jack Ryan, Attorney, PATC Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com)2011 U.S. Supreme Court J.D.B. v. North Carolina Law Enforcement Removal of Child from Classroom for Questioning may be Custody for Miranda Purposes In J.D.B. v. North Carolina, [i] the United States Supreme Court examined an interrogation case involving a juvenile, who was questioned at school for crimes occurring outside of school.  The case impacts interrogation at schools by law enforcement personnel as well as the issue of juveniles and interrogation generally. The facts surrounding the interrogation were reported by the majority opinion (5/4) as follows: Petitioner J. D. B. was a [...]

©2011 Jack Ryan, Attorney, PATC Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) 2011 U.S. Supreme Court Sykes v. United States In Sykes v. United States, [i] the United States Supreme Court considered a sentencing case that may have some implications on how law enforcement and the courts look at pursuits.  Sykes was charged with a violation of federal firearms law after he was arrested for being a felon in possession of a firearm.  Sykes also received an enhanced sentence under the federal sentencing guidelines because he had three previous convictions for a violent felony or drug offense.  Sykes challenged his enhanced sentence arguing [...]

©2011 Jack Ryan, Attorney, PATC Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com)2011 U.S. Supreme Court Bullcoming v. New Mexico Confrontation Clause Gives Defendant Right to Confront the Analyst who analyzed his Blood in Operating while Intoxicated Case. Over the last several years the United States Supreme Court has decided a number of cases dealing with the Sixth Amendment’s confrontation clause of the United States Constitution.  While many of these cases have focused on statements that the prosecution has sought to introduce when the person who made the statement was unavailable to testify at trial.  The theory of the defense is [...]