Case Law 4 Cops

"Our Government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. . . . If the Government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy." Justice Thomas Clark

 

Case Law 4 Cops contains information on hundreds of court cases. These cases are important to officers and citizens alike. The cases cover what officers can and cannot do in several areas of law. Follow the links below.

Cases Involving the Questioning of Suspects

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Other Cases






Cases Involving Search & Seizure

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New Cases

K-9-

Rosenbaum v. City of San Jose, No. 22-16863 (9th Cir. 2024)-Officers were denied qualified immunity for excessive force. A canine was deployed and bit the Rosenbaum for more than 20 seconds after he surrendered and was lying prone on his stomach with his arms outstretched.

Surveillance-

US v. Dewilfond, No. 22-1066 (8th Cir. 2022)-Dewilfond conditionally pled guilty to distribution of CDS and possession of ammunition after a felony conviction. He appealed his conviction based on the warrantless collection of GPS locational data. The data was from a vehicle being tracked with the owner's consent prior to Dewilfond borrowing the vehicle. The owner of the vehicle was a confidential informant and had tipped the police that Dewilfond wanted to borrow his vehicle to distribute a large about of methamphetamine. With the CI's permission, the police placed a GPS tracker on the vehicle. The CI let Dewilfond borrow the vehicle. The police tracked it for two days before arresting Dewilfond from it. Dewilfond was arrested with over 1000 grams of methamphetamine. Dewilfond made a motion to suppress his Miranda statements and evidence based on the GPS tracking of the vehicle. The district court denied the motion. He appealed. The 8th Circuit court held: A. Dewilfond had no property interest or expectation of privacy in the vehicle when the CI gave consent to monitor the vehicle with a GPS tracker. B. The police had reason to believe the vehicle was used to distribute illegal drugs. The vehicle was tracked in public places, and the GPS did not allow officers to peer into the intricacies of Dewilfond's private life. The denial of the motion was affirmed.

Curtilage-

US v. Banks, No. 22-1312 (7th Cir. 2023)-Banks, a convicted felon, posted on Snapchat a video of himself grilling on his porch with a gun near him. An officer saw the post and knew Banks was a convicted felon. Several officers went to Banks' house and contacted him on the porch with the intent to warrantless arrest him. They struggled and Banks was finally arrested in the front room of his home. Banks was pat searched by the officers and a loaded 9mm pistol was found in his pocket. Banks made a motion to suppress the gun because the officers did not have a warrant. The motion was denied. Banks pled guilty then appealed the motion to suppress ruling. The 7th Circuit held that the officers needed a warrant to enter Banks' porch. Since it was part of the curtilage and the officers did not obtain consent to enter the porch, the gun evidence was suppressed.

Civil-

Gravitte v. North Carolina DMV, 01-1718 (4th Cir 2002)-Gravitte, a law enforcement officer, sued his employer, the North Carolina Disision of Motor Vehicles. He claimed that his employer's policies requiring a minimum number of enforcement actions and citations each day violated his consitutional rights. The court held that the policy enacted to prevent shirking on the job was not "egregious" or "outrageous" and did not violate the officer's rights.

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