Search incident to arrest began before officer orally advised subject they were under arrest
Facts Agent Gary Smith of the DeSoto County Metro Narcotics Task Force testified that he paid Ravi Goin, a confidential informant, to purchase methamphetamine from Richard Craig. Smith stated that he had used Goin as an informant in several other cases which resulted in ten to twenty arrests. Goin testified that on March 26, 1997, […]
No knock warrant executed
Facts In 1996, David Sullivan was serving as the director of the Central Delta Drug Task Force. Sullivan began an investigation of Robert White after receiving intelligence reports from various law enforcement agencies in Sunflower County, Mississippi. Through a confidential informant it was discovered that White was selling crack cocaine from his residence at 215 […]
Identity of informant does not need to be disclosed here
Facts The residence of defendant Dewain “Bubba” Jenkins was searched by the Neshoba County sheriff, a deputy, and agents of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics in 1996. A search warrant had been acquired based on information provided by a confidential informant. Jenkins was there with his girlfriend and their small child. In bedrooms the officers […]
Search incident to arrest not appropriate once subject is in police car (Gant has clarified rules on this)
Facts A city police officer for the City of Crystal Springs, Officer LeFleur, observed two males in the vicinity of a pick-up truck improperly stopped in a lane of traffic in a public road. Upon stopping to investigate, he found Elwood White sitting on the driver’s side of the truck and his brother William White standing […]
Allowing drunk driver to continue driving and cause wreck is reckless disregard under MTCA
Facts Trista Turner was injured in a collision with a drunk driver. Turner filed a complaint in Sunflower County Circuit Court against the drunk driver and the City of Ruleville. Turner alleged that the driver, James E. Smith, was operating the vehicle without a valid driver’s license and while visibly intoxicated with a blood alcohol […]
Constructive possession not proven against wife who rode in truck with husband
Facts In 1993, Sergeant Potts and Captain Randy Sibley of the Mississippi Highway Patrol were working on Interstate 10 in Jackson County, Mississippi. Inspector Bruce Ford, Jr. and Inspector Wayne Dupont of the Mississippi Public Service Commission (MPSC) were working in conjunction with Potts and Sibley, who used a radar device to determine that an 18 […]