Search & Seizure | Virginia Lawyers Weekly

Search OK of Trashcan by Sidewalk

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 24, 2012
Tags: Judge Henry E. Hudson, Search & Seizure, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A trashcan placed by a sidewalk in the back of a residence could be searched by police for evidence of drug activity, as defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the trashcan and closed trash bags inside, and a Richmond U.S. District Court denies defendant’s motion to suppress drugs and firearms later seized pursuant [...]

Jailhouse Wallet Search Upheld

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 18, 2012
Tags: Judge William G. Petty, Search & Seizure, Virginia Court of Appeals

Police who responded to a domestic violence call and arrested defendant after they found his live-in girlfriend with a cut above her eye did not violate defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights when they found marijuana and heroin in his wallet when he was processed at the jail, and the Court of Appeals upholds denial of defendant’s [...]

Consent Involuntary When Exit Blocked

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 16, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Diana Gribbon Motz, Search & Seizure

Police in a high-crime area who followed a car with four African-American occupants and out-of-state tags onto private property and blocked the car’s exit, then questioned the driver and asked him to lift his shirt and consent to a pat-down, violated the driver’s Fourth Amendment rights, and the 4th Circuit reverses the district court’s refusal [...]

‘Protective Sweep’ Gun is Admissible

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 15, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Dennis W. Shedd, Search & Seizure

Police responding to four quick 911 “domestic” calls relating to a couple they knew did not exceed defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights when, after arresting defendant and making a protective sweep to locate defendant’s 14-year-old autistic brother, they asked the brother where the reported gun was and he pointed to a rifle in a gun rack; [...]

Arrest OK on Dispatcher’s Wrong Info

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 8, 2012
Tags: Judge Walter S. Felton Jr., Search & Seizure, Virginia Court of Appeals

An officer on a domestic call who took defendant into custody on a dispatcher’s report of an outstanding arrest warrant did not violate defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights in a search incident to arrest when he discovered marijuana and a bullet, even though the officer later learned the warrant already had been served on defendant; the [...]

Search of Driver’s Laptop Upheld

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 1, 2012
Tags: Judge Norman K. Moon, Search & Seizure, U.S. District Court - Western District

A Lynchburg U.S. District Court denies defendant’s motion to suppress evidence obtained from a search of his laptop computer and other electronic effects, seized when rangers on the Blue Ridge Parkway stopped the 57-year-old defendant at a DUI checkpoint and discovered he was driving on a suspended license and a missing persons report had been [...]

Passenger’s Firearm Is Admissible

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 3, 2012
Tags: Judge T.S. Ellis III, Search & Seizure, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A passenger in a vehicle stopped for excessive window tint and defective rear brake light cannot suppress a firearm found in the glove box by asserting the officer unnecessarily prolonged the stop for 19 minutes as he waited for a canine team and questioned the driver; the Alexandria U.S. District Court says the traffic stop [...]

Vehicle Search Did Not Exceed Consent

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 29, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Paul V. Niemeyer, Search & Seizure

The 4th Circuit offers a refresher course in assessing “probable cause” and reverses a district court order suppressing drugs found in a secret compartment of defendant’s car because the district court applied the wrong standards for determining whether police had defendant’s consent to search the vehicle and whether there was probable cause to search it.
Police [...]

Traffic Stop Extension Not Illegal

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 24, 2012
Tags: Judge Glen E. Conrad, Search & Seizure, U.S. District Court - Western District

Although a trooper prolonged his traffic stop for excessive window tinting and a partially obscured license plate to ask some questions unrelated to the reasons for the stop, the additional time to inquire about defendant’s protective order and check his criminal background, prior to the drug dog’s alert, did not violate defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights, [...]

False Statement Provides Probable Cause

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 16, 2012
Tags: Judge Pamela Meade Sargent, Search & Seizure, U.S. District Court - Western District

A magistrate judge for the Big Stone Gap U.S. District Court recommends denying defendants’ motion to suppress evidence of drugs found in their van stopped within the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, as testimony from a park ranger and the recording of the traffic stop show the van’s owner consented to the search.
Police found within [...]

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