probable cause to administer a field sobriety test can be the basis of probable cause to arrest and administer a breath test
Facts In 2001, Tami Saucier was driving on Highway 53 near Poplarville, Mississippi. While on patrol, a Pearl River County sheriff’s deputy began to follow her. He observed Saucier increase and decrease her speed and “bump” the centerline. She was driving between 15 and 20 MPH in a 35 MPH zone. He followed her for about […]
Protective sweep of vehicle allowed under long
Facts The DeSoto County Metro Narcotics Department began receiving complaints that Corwin Hill was selling drugs on the public roadways surrounding the home of his father and, some small distance away, his mother’s home. These tips came primarily from neighbors of the Hills and other community members. Some tips came via telephone, primarily anonymous but […]
A CI’s statements in an affidavit must be corroborated by veracity and reliability
Facts After Steve Woods was indicted for possession of cocaine with intent to sell, he filed a motion to suppress, claiming that the confidential informant (C.I.), upon whose information the affidavit for the search warrant was based, was “an individual previously unknown for her reliability.” The information supplied by the confidential informant “was not corroborated […]
Ambiguous situation led to stop
Facts In 2001, Horn Lake Police Officer Harold William Bayles noticed a female passenger inside a SUV in the parking lot of Target and Kroger removing her shirt. Bayles began to approach the vehicle. The driver of the SUV noticed the officer approaching and began to drive away. Bayles initiated an investigatory stop. The driver, […]
pulling on pants to reveal what is in a bag is not plain view
Facts In 2000, Carl Vester Anderson was stopped in his vehicle by Marion County Deputy Sheriff David Smith while driving on a main thoroughfare of Columbia, Mississippi. Smith had been following Anderson for an undisclosed distance. It was Smith’s opinion that when Anderson stopped at a stop sign with the marked sheriff’s car behind him, […]
48 hour rule for initial appearance is not a 4th amendment violation
Facts After a series of burglaries, Scott County law enforcement officers received a tip that stolen goods were being sold from a car of given description and tag number. Larry Lawrence was driving the car when it was located and stopped by a deputy sheriff in the late afternoon of December 30, 1998. The car […]