On October 22, 2024, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decided the United States v. Williams[i], in which the court examined whether officers violated the Fourth Amendment when they detained a person, handcuffed in the backseat of a police car.  The relevant facts of Williams are as follows: Williams rear-ended a vehicle at a busy intersection in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The driver of the vehicle that Williams hit, known only as "L.V.," called the police. When Officers Roxanne Partak and Thomas Gootjes arrived at the accident scene, L.V. told Officer Gootjes that following the accident, Williams immediately jumped out of his [...]

On June 27, 2024, the Court of Appeals of Georgia decided the State v. Hanks[i], in which the court examined whether the independent source doctrine would prevent the suppression of drug evidence where officers included some unlawfully obtained evidence in a search warrant affidavit.  The relevant facts of Hanks are as follows: On February 27, 2019, the Sandy Springs Police Department received an anonymous tip regarding drugs in a hotel room at the Extended Stay America located at 1050 Hammond Drive NE, Sandy Springs, Fulton County. The tip was prompted by a report from housekeeping staff for the hotel, who [...]

On September 3, 2024, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decided Slaybaugh v. Rutherford Cnty[i], in which the court examined whether a county was liable to plaintiffs for damage done to the residence while the police executed a search and arrest warrant for the plaintiffs’ adult son who was in the residence and refused to come out.  The relevant facts of Slaybaugh are as follows: The Slaybaughs' residence is in the Town of Smyrna, located in Rutherford County, Tennessee. On January 23, 2022, they agreed to let Conn stay at their house. There, later that evening, Mrs. Slaybaugh looked out [...]

On July 12, 2024, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decided Rambert v. City of Greenville[i], in which the court examined whether an officer was entitled to qualified immunity when he shot an unarmed, suspected burglar who charged toward the officer.  The relevant facts of Rambert are as follows: On July 9, 2019, at around 4:00 a.m., an elderly couple reported a breaking-and-entering in progress at their Greenville, North Carolina residence. They reported hearing glass break and a male voice yelling in the background. The police department dispatched two officers to the scene. Johnson was working the night shift and [...]

On August 30, 2024, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals decided Cuervo v. Sorenson[i], in which the court examined whether officers were entitled to qualified immunity in a suit that involved allegations of unreasonable search of a residence that was pursuant to a search warrant.  The relevant facts of Cuervo are as follows: Officers in and around Mesa County, Colorado were on the hunt for a stolen Sno-Cat—a large, tracked machine, 8' wide, 7'5" tall, and 16'3" long. They suspected Plaintiff's son had parked the Sno-Cat in Plaintiff's garage, so they rang her doorbell. Nobody answered, but at least one officer [...]

On July 24, 2024, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decided the United States v. Sherrell[i], in which the court discussed whether an officer violated the Fourth Amendment when, in response to tip from an informant, he briefly detained a package at a FedEx shipping facility to investigate the circumstances of the shipment and then conducted a canine sniff of the package in a line-up.  The relevant facts of Sherrell are as follows: On February 21, 2019, at around 6:44 am, a [known] confidential informant contacted Detective Todd Gillilan on his cell phone. The CI told Gillilan about a suspicious [...]