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‘Protective Sweep’ Gun is Admissible
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
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
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
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
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. […]
Traffic Stop Extension Not Illegal
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
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 […]
Suppression Reversed for Probable Cause
On the commonwealth’s appeal, the Court of Appeals reverses the trial court’s pretrial order suppressing defendant’s admission of theft after his arrest and remands for a new trial. A Dollar General Store employee called 911 after he believe he observed an individual shoplifting. He described the shoplifter as a white male, age 25 to 35, […]
No Suppression Under Posse Comitatus
A Russian national woman who initially was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service for an alleged sham marriage to an enlisted Navy sailor, but who ultimately was prosecuted for a sham marriage to a civilian, cannot get the indictment against her and her husband dismissed as a […]
Illegal Stop Not Purged by Assault
The 4th Circuit upholds suppression of a gun seized from a vehicle passenger during an illegal stop, and rejects the government’s argument that the illegality of the stop was purged when defendant resisted arrest and assaulted an officer. The district court found as a factual matter that an officer could not see the slight crack […]
Detective Comment Not ‘Interrogation’
Although a detective may have directly addressed defendant, who had asked for a lawyer, when he repeated that a co-defendant had made a statement about deciding to rob a “white lady” and hit her in the head with a brick, the detective’s comments were not the functional equivalent of interrogation, and the Supreme Court of […]
ID Request Was Consensual Encounter
A deputy’s initial encounter with a man sitting in his vehicle in a rural driveway where police went to serve felony warrants and request for the man’s license was a consensual encounter and police did not violate defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights when they found cocaine in defendant’s pocket after he consented to a search of […]
Verdicts & Settlements
- Jury reaches defense verdict in $4M med mal action
- Dental hygienist tripped, fractured right wrist, foot — $190,000 settlement
- Couple contracted Hepatitis A after dining at restaurant — $5.5M settlement
- Elderly man suffers hip fracture after attack by neighbor’s dog — $350,000 settlement
- Motorcyclist injured when vehicle abruptly changed lanes — $300,000 verdict
- Passenger ejected from car in high-speed chase crash — $685,000 settlement
- Defense verdict reached in fraud suit
- 8-year-old killed in crash involving tractor-trailer — $1,100,000 settlement
- Plaintiff conceived child after vasectomy — $250,000 settlement
- Delay in diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy led to surgery — $283,432.18 settlement
- Golfer stepped in sinkhole, fractured ankle — $442,000 verdict
- Jury sides with woman injured in rear-end collision — $300,000 verdict
viewpoint
- The promise and peril of artificial intelligence in patent law
- Keys to becoming an unfrazzled lawyer
- Confused about federal COVID-19 emergencies ending? You’re not alone
- Generative AI in law: New survey of lawyer perspectives and plans
- Four misconceptions about appeals
- Font choice exposes fabricated document
- USPTO launches first-time filer expedited exam pilot program
- In times of crisis, the ‘tug of war’ is over
- The ever-evolving Fourth Circuit
- Federal protections for pregnant, nursing employees coming
- It’s time for employers to embrace the ‘Big Quit’ and adapt
- Tell the whole truth? I’ll do better than that
Polls
Are you or your law firm cutting back on holiday gifts to clients, colleagues or associates?
- Yes, times are tough (78%, 29 Votes)
- No, it's business as usual (22%, 8 Votes)
Total Voters: 37
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