©2017 Jack Ryan, Attorney, Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) In a per curiam decision the United States Supreme Court has directed the lower courts that in denying qualified immunity to officers, they must consider the particularities of the case rather than relying on general legal principles as providing officers with clear law [notice] governing their actions. The case, White v. Pauly involved a case where three officers were dispatched to a road rage incident on a highway near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Two women reported that Daniel Pauly was likely an intoxicated driver as he was “swerving all crazy.” The women [...]

©2017 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) The automobile exception to the search warrant requirement allows officers to search a vehicle without a warrant when they have probable cause to believe evidence of a crime is located within the vehicle. This rule was first established by the United States Supreme Court in Carroll v. United States[i] in 1925, and has been reiterated by that court in a long line of cases. However, despite the longstanding support of warrantless searches of automobiles based on the automobile exception, it is important to remember that states can be more restrictive [...]

©2017 Jack Ryan, Attorney, Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) In Wesby v. District of Columbia[1], the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit examined the conduct of police officers who responded to a loud party, made entry, and ultimately arrested the party participants. A woman who had not yet signed a lease on the apartment and therefore had not authority to hold the party invited the partygoers. At the direction of a sergeant the attendees were arrested for unlawful entry and disorderly conduct. The arrestees sued the officers alleging that the officers lacked probable cause to make the [...]

©2017 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) The automobile exception to the search warrant requirement allows officers to search a vehicle without a warrant when they have probable cause to believe evidence of a crime is located within the vehicle. This rule was first established by the United States Supreme Court in Carroll v. United States[i] in 1925, and has been reiterated by that court in a long line of cases. However, despite the longstanding support of warrantless searches of automobiles based on the automobile exception, it is important to remember that states can be more restrictive [...]

©2016 Brian S. Batterton, Attorney, Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) On October 13, 2016, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals of decided the Estate of David Papadakos et al. v. Norton et al.[i] , in which the court examined the issue of whether law enforcement officers violate the Fourth Amendment if they rely upon allegedly coerced statements when they develop probable cause and make an arrest. The relevant facts of Papadakos, taken directly from the case, are as follows: Papadakos adopted B.P. in 2010. At the time, B.P. was twelve years old and had been in and out of foster care [...]

©2016 Jack Ryan, Attorney, Co-Director Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) The Constitution as a general matter only applies to government actors due to the fact that its creation by the founding fathers was to restrict the power of government. Lawsuits related to violation of constitutional rights generally only apply to those persons who act under color of law such as correctional officers, deputies, and police officers. However, when the government hires some outside vendor to fulfill what is generally a governmental function, those non-government actors may also be sued for violation of constitutional rights. One type of non-government actor [...]