©2018 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) On February 16, 2018, the Court of Appeals of Georgia decided the State v. McCloud[i], in which the court discussed whether evidence should be suppressed based on the officer’s subjective belief at the time of the search or whether the court should apply an objective standard. The relevant facts of McCloud, taken directly from the case, are as follows: [T]he evidence, as testified to by the only witness at the motion to suppress hearing, demonstrates that a patrol officer with the Atlanta Police Department observed a "pretty bad" two car accident [...]

©2018 Jack Ryan, Attorney, Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) There is often a public outcry when it is learned that an officer has shot an unarmed individual. It is recognized that there is often a disconnect between the public expectations and public beliefs with respect to law enforcement’s use of force and the existing law, which grants law enforcement broad authority to use force. A 2017 case from the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit provides one example of the unarmed suspect shooting case. This case involves the officer being confronted with a hostile barehanded individual [...]

©2018 Jack Ryan, Attorney, Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) In a short per curiam decision, the United States Supreme Court considered a case where officers arrested a woman in her home for disorderly conduct and interfering with a law enforcement investigation. I note that due to brief description of the facts in the Supreme Court’s decision, the facts have been taken from the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit’s decision.[1] The United States Court of Appeals reported the facts as follows from Ms. Sause’s complaint: On November 22, 2013, the defendants contacted Sause at her home while [...]

©2018 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) On February 20, 2018, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decided Callwood v. Jones et al.[i], in which the court examined the use of force against a suspect who was likely suffering from excited delirium. The relevant facts of Callwood, taken directly from the case, are as follows: On the night that Illidge died, Lee County Sheriff Deputies Steven Mills and Ray Smith received a radio dispatch reporting that a naked man was running down Lee County Road 314. The deputies, who were in separate cars and on separate patrols at [...]

©2018 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) On February 1, 2018, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decided Ristow v. Hansen et al.[i], in which the court discussed the constitutional requirements for a plaintiff to establish a wrongful termination case. The relevant facts of Ristow, taken directly from the case, are as follows: Ristow observed the driver of a car commit a traffic violation and stopped the vehicle. During the stop, Ristow asked the two occupants if there were any narcotics in the car. When they did not answer the question, Ristow asked for consent to search the [...]

©2018 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) On January 4, 2018, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decided Horn v. Barron[i], in which the court examined whether it an officer who used a “soft hands, straight arm bar takedown” to arrest a disorderly female at a concert was entitled to qualified immunity from an excessive force lawsuit. The relevant facts of Horn, in part, taken directly from the case, are as follows: On October 13, 2012, Horn attended a Luke Bryan concert with her ex-husband Kevin Horn, her 12-year-old daughter and 18-year old daughter. The concert promoters hired [...]