‘Good Faith’ Saves Search for Tools 
By Deborah Elkins
Published: September 10, 2012
Tags: Judge Robert P. Doherty Jr., Salem Circuit Court, Search & Seizure, Virginia Circuit Courts
A search warrant for power tools, copper and accelerants was not supported by an affidavit that recounted facts such as a convicted felon’s recent delivery to the residence and his purchase of a possible accelerant, but the Salem Circuit Court applies the good faith exception and denies defendant’s motion to suppress. The affidavit indicated power [...]
Officer’s Speed Estimate Supported Traffic Stop
By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 16, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Albert Diaz, Search & Seizure
The 4th Circuit upholds a traffic stop based on two officers’ separate visual estimates of defendant’s speed, as the officers’ radar certification training required them to visually estimate vehicle speed within a narrow margin of error; the subsequent open-air search by a drug-sniffing dog did not violate defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights, and his convictions for [...]
Cocaine Suppressed After Traffic-Stop Delay
By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 5, 2012
Tags: Judge John A. Gibney Jr., Search & Seizure, U.S. District Court - Eastern District
A state trooper who was part of an “interdiction” team that targeted suspected criminals traveling on I-95 cannot justify extension of his initial traffic stop for speeding into a 14-minute investigation of potential criminal activity, including use of a drug-sniffing dog, by citing factors such as fast-food wrappers and a new portable GPS device inside [...]
Stop Not Supported by Visual Speed Estimate
By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 3, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge James A. Wynn Jr., Search & Seizure
A deputy’s visual estimate of a driver’s speed – uncorroborated by radar or pacing and unsupported by any other indicia of reliability – did not provide probable cause to stop the driver for driving 75 in a 70-mph zone, and the 4th Circuit says the district court erred in denying defendant’s motion to suppress cocaine [...]
Guns Out for Illegal Traffic Detention
By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 25, 2012
Tags: Judge Junius P. Fulton III, Norfolk Circuit Court, Search & Seizure, Virginia Circuit Courts
Officers’ testimony about smelling marijuana after a lawful traffic stop was inconsistent and unsupported and police exceeded the lawful scope of the stop when they hauled a passenger out and handcuffed him without first asking him to exit the vehicle; a Norfolk Circuit Court suppresses the guns found on the passenger after he was handcuffed. [...]
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 [...]
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