Protective sweep of vehicle requires immediate access to weapon and finding that person is potentially dangerous
Facts On July 26, 2023, a magistrate judge in the Northern District of Texas issued a warrant for Tony Lee Johnson’s arrest. Johnson had failed a series of drug tests in violation of the terms of his supervised release; he was serving a 2006 sentence for drug and aiding-and-abetting offenses. The United States Marshals Service […]
Constructive possession of methamphetamine and motion to suppress statement denied
Facts While conducting a safety checkpoint on behalf of the Neshoba County Sheriff’s Department one afternoon in October 2022, Investigator Patrick Burt and Deputy Matthew Winstead noticed a truck attempt to avoid the checkpoint by pulling into a nearby driveway. Quickly realizing the driveway was gated off, the driver of the truck had to back […]
Conflicting narrative leads to denial of qualified immunity when subject shot in back
Facts (If you are new to 1983 actions, click here for help) On September 3, 2021, at approximately 2:06 AM, Officer Jonathan Granado, on duty in his marked police vehicle, heard fellow Lake Worth Police Department (LWPD) Officer R. Watson report over the police radio that he was engaged in a high-speed pursuit of a […]
Foolish to ask officers to ignore using hidden firearm on driver as factor to terry frisk passenger
Facts Around 9:00 p.m. on November 29, 2021, a Hattiesburg police officer stopped a car with a defective tag light. After the driver told the officer that he had neither identification nor proof of insurance, the officer asked him to step out of the car. While conducting a protective pat-down of the driver, the officer […]
Qualified immunity when subject in handcuffs is actively resisting
Facts (If you are new to 1983 actions, click here for help) On January 17, 2023, R.C. was at a school classmate’s home in Covington, Louisiana. While R.C. was there, three officers from the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s department arrived—Lieutenant Bill Johnson, Deputy Joel Bratton, and Deputy Christopher Vado—searching for a person of interest in […]
Dad, who was owner of building, gave consent to search desk
Facts On June 25, 2020, law enforcement from the Prentiss County Sheriff’s Department responded to a 911 call. A woman had emerged from the woods near the caller’s residence in distress, covered with bruises, cuts, and scratch marks. When law enforcement arrived at the residence, the woman said Jesse Lee Robinson had assaulted her. The […]