Officer does not need to be certain that it is contraband – the standard is probable cause
Facts In May 2020, Tony Dasmond McGee was playing loud music before being pulled over by Officer Reginald Cain of the Brookhaven Police Department for violating a city noise ordinance. McGee was driving with his then-girlfriend, Tyranesia Gilmore, who was in the passenger seat. After approaching McGee’s car, the officer observed what he believed was […]
Reasonable suspicion justified extending stop
Facts (If you are new to 1983 actions, click here for help) In the early morning hours of September 23, 2020, Trooper Will Richter pulled over Russell Thompson and Demetrius McChester on Route 287 for speeding. At the time, McChester was driving Thompson’s 2019 Mercedes Benz. Richter approached the vehicle after McChester pulled over and […]
All 9 shots fired at suspect protected by qualified immunity
Facts (If you are new to 1983 actions, click here for help) On April 9, 2020, around three in the morning, Laredo Police Department (LPD) Officer Karla Pruneda noticed Alejandro Estevis slumped over inside his pickup truck on the side of the road. Intending to perform a welfare check, she parked her patrol car behind […]
Plain view seizure of narcotics was proper
Facts On July 3, 2020, Landon Ates, who was a narcotics investigator with the Smith County Sheriff’s Department at the time, came in contact with Regie Dale Goodson in the middle of a public county road in Smith County. Initially, Ates had been called to the location because of a 911 call that had been […]
17 year old not entitled to have parent with him during questioning in murder case
Facts Seventeen-year-old Jaquez Davonte Porter and his friends Jarvis Jermaine Cook and sisters Willow Onedia-Louise Blackmon and Yakeshia Lashel Blackmon were together on February 24, 2020. Cook, who was driving his mother’s car, picked up Porter, and eventually, they went to the sisters’ house. There, Willow and Yakeshia, who had had a disagreement with the […]
Qualified immunity granted for officer who was tased in groin before killing subject
Facts (If you are new to 1983 actions, click here for help) Juan De La Cruz resided at the Brixton Apartments and served as a courtesy law enforcement officer for the apartments. Pamela Turner also resided there and was known to have some mental health issues that caused her to be aggressive, but no one […]