On March 28, 2018, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decided the United States v. Mitchell[i], in which the court discussed whether officers conducted a search under the Fourth Amendment when they sniffed the exterior of an apartment and smelled the odor of marijuana emanating from an apartment. The relevant facts of Mitchell, taken directly from the case, are as follows: The afternoon of June 27, 2016, police officers Zachary Lyons and Glenn Marshall were on routine patrol at Pinedale Manor apartments located in Newport News, Virginia. Pinedale Manor is a two-story garden style apartment complex. The apartment buildings overlook [...]

©2018 Brian S. Batterton, J.D., Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.LLRMI.com) On March 13, 2018, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decided Gates v. Khokhar et al.[i], in which the court discussed whether officers who arrested a protester for wearing a mask were entitled to qualified and official immunity from suit.  The case serves as instructive regarding the Georgia anti-mask law. The relevant facts of Gates, taken directly from the case, are as follows: On November 26, 2014, Plaintiff participated in a march in downtown Atlanta to protest a grand jury's decision in a police-shooting case in Ferguson, Missouri. [...]

©2018 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) On March 1, 2018, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals of decided the United States v. Molina-Isidoro[i], in which the court examined whether agents with the Department of Homeland Security violated the Fourth Amendment when they conducted a warrantless search of a cell phone at a border crossing to the United States in El Paso, Texas. Part One of this series examined the Eleventh Circuit’s ruling on the warrantless border search of a cell phone. In this case, the Fifth Circuit examined a similar issue but reached its conclusion by [...]

©2018 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) On March 15, 2018, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decided the United States v. Vergara[i], in which the court examined whether agents with the Department of Homeland Security violated the Fourth Amendment when they conducted a warrantless forensic search of three cell phones at a point of entry to the United States in Tampa, Florida. The relevant facts of Vergara, taken directly from the case, are as follows: Vergara, a United States citizen, arrived at the Port of Tampa, Florida, having returned from a vacation in Cozumel, Mexico. Before his [...]

©2018 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) On February 12, 2018, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decided E.W. v. Dolgos[i], in which the court examined whether it violated the Fourth Amendment when a school police officer handcuffed an elementary school student who had fought with another student three days prior and was, at the time of the handcuffing, calm, compliant and in an office with two school administrators and the school resource officer. The relevant facts of E.W., in summary, are as follows: E.W. and A.W., both juvenile, elementary school girls, were on the bus and A.W. [...]

©2018 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) On May 24, 2016, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decided the United States v. Foster[i], in which the court discussed whether officers had sufficient reasonable suspicion to detain a subject found in the area of a gunshot call. The relevant facts of Foster, taken directly from the case, are as follows: Around 12:39 a.m. on August 11, 2014, police in Wheeling, West Virginia, received a “911 hangup-only call” reporting a gunshot near a jogging trail by Coleman's Fish Market. J.A. 68. Officers Eric Burke and Rachel Boyer were dispatched to [...]