On December 14, 2023, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals decided the United States v. Betts[i], which serves as an excellent review of the law related to reasonable suspicion required to expand the scope of a traffic stop. The relevant facts of Betts are as follows: On June 3, 2021, at 5:50 p.m., Iowa State Patrol Trooper Spencer Baltes observed Betts narrowly pass a semi-truck without using a turn signal on I-80 in Dallas County, Iowa. Baltes initiated a traffic stop and approached Betts's vehicle from the front passenger side, where Betts's niece Macey Wignall was seated. Betts produced his license [...]

You have been on the job for some time but have never had to use deadly force. Then, in a split second, you just shot someone; what happens next? While many officers work on maintaining their proficiency and marksmanship skills with their weapons, many do not place the same emphasis on knowing their legal rights or learning what follows an officer-involved shooting. This article will try to do just that. It will walk the reader through the process from the perspective of the involved officer(s). It will review what happens in the hours, days, and months following the shooting as [...]

On December 14, 2023, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals decided Fields v. City of Tulsa[i], which serves as excellent review of the law related to excessive force. The relevant facts of Fields are as follows: Tameko Warren dialed 911 from the parking lot of a QuikTrip convenience store in Tulsa reporting that her soon-to-be ex-husband, Earnest Fields, was deflating her tires. She added that he was armed with a hammer, which he had just used to tap on her car window. When officers Cherish Comfort, Jill Sallee, and Lucas Temple arrived at the scene, Ms. Warren was still in [...]

On December 14, 2023, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decided on Graham v. Luke[i], which serves as an excellent review of the law related to malicious prosecution. The relevant facts of Graham are as follows: After a customer handed store clerk Michelle Kilgore a counterfeit check, police sent Inspector Wayne Luke to investigate. The check was made out to Kenneth Anthony Graham. Luke put that name into the police database and found Graham's driver's license photo. He showed it to Kilgore who confirmed that Graham was the individual who presented the fraudulent check. On this basis, Luke obtained a [...]

On December 27, 2023, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals decided the United States v. Maxwell[i], which serves as an excellent review of the law related to warrantless, exigent home entry. The relevant facts of Maxwell are as follows: Lieutenant Steven Bose of the Waterloo, Iowa, Police Department initiated a traffic stop on a blue Chevrolet Trailblazer on November 4, 2020, at approximately 9:40 p.m. The Trailblazer did not stop until it came to a red light. The front-seat passenger opened the door and took off running, dropping a pair of black gloves. The passenger was a Black man wearing [...]

On December 28, 2023, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decided the United States v. Tiller[i], which serves as excellent review of the law related to reasonable suspicion to believe person is involved in drug dealing. The relevant facts of Tiller are as follows: At about 6:00 p.m. on October 29, 2019, Corporal Young of the Bay County Sheriff's Office was looking for Travis Shutes based on a federal warrant. Corporal Young was in an unmarked car in the area of a bar and liquor store called Foghorn's that Shutes was known to frequent. Foghorn's was the location of past fights, [...]