On December 14, 2018, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decided the United States v. Lyles[i], in which the court examined whether the discovery of three marijuana stems in trash bags in front of Lyles home was sufficient probable cause to support a search warrant.   The facts of Lyles, taken directly from the case, are as follows: Prince George's County Police, during an investigation unrelated to the present case, saw Lyles's phone number in a homicide victim's cell phone. They suspected that defendant might be relevant to that investigation. But it was only a hunch. So the police searched four [...]

On December 10, 2018, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decided Charlot v. City of Houston, et al.[i], in which the court examined whether officers were entitled to qualified immunity when they requested and obtained a body cavity search warrant for an arrestee they believed had concealed a controlled substance in the area of his buttocks.   The facts of Charlot, taken directly from the case, are as follows: Members of the Houston Police Department surveilled Charlot as he appeared to engage in multiple drug transactions, and then stopped him for traffic infractions. After Charlot consented to the search of his [...]

On December 21, 2018, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals decided the United States v. Bey[i], in which the court examined whether officers violated the Fourth Amendment when they continued to detain a suspect after seeing that he did not meet the description of the suspect that they sought. In Bey, Philadelphia police officers stopped a car for failure to stop at a stop sign.  The vehicle continued into a high crime neighborhood before finally coming to a stop.  The vehicle was occupied by three males. After smelling marijuana, officers conducted a search of the vehicle.  They located a handgun [...]

On December 10, 2018, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals decided the United States v. Pope[i], in which the court examined whether officers violated the Fourth Amendment when they conducted a stop and frisk of a man that they observed conceal a handgun under his shirt.   The facts of Pope, taken directly from the case, are as follows: Around 4:00 a.m. one January morning, Des Moines police responded to a complaint about noise at an area motel. Outside the motel room in question, a police officer heard loud music and smelled marijuana, so he knocked on the door. When someone [...]

Author’s Note: The United States Supreme Court has issued other decisions on the issue of involuntarily blood draws on suspected DUI suspects.  Before doing a blood draw without a warrant, an officer must determine the category in which the driver fits.  See BOTTOM LINE at the end of this article. The United States Supreme Court outlined the details of Mitchell v. Wisconsin[1]  as follows: The sequence of events that gave rise to this case began when Officer Alexander Jaeger of the Sheboygan Police Department received a report that petitioner Gerald Mitchell, appearing to be very drunk, had climbed into a [...]

On December 21, 2018, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decided Lowe et al. v. Smith et al.[i], in which the court examined whether officers violated the Fourth Amendment when they entered a residence without a warrant in response to a 911 call that was placed by a child and misunderstood by the dispatcher.   The facts of Lowe, taken directly from the case, are as follows: The Lowes' ten-year-old son N.L. called 911 and, according to an audio recording of the call, informed the dispatcher, "My dad is killing my brother." On the phone, N.L. sounded hysterical, and the dispatcher [...]