Warrant obtained in good faith so motion to suppress denied
Facts On April 26, 2020, Travis County, Texas dispatchers were notified that a trailer was on fire in the city of Austin, Texas. Following firefighters’ efforts to extinguish the fire, a woman’s body—later determined to be Dana Crocker-Norman—was found in the wreckage of the trailer. Crocker-Norman’s boyfriend, Billy Wayne Hope, III, was informed of the […]
Odor of marijuana justified automobile exception search of vehicle
Facts Cerissa Lynette Sanders was convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2). The district court sentenced her to 21 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release. Sanders appeals the district court’s denial of her motion to suppress the firearm that was […]
Subject not in custody when he made statement
Facts On the morning of 7 July 2021, law enforcement executed a search warrant based on an investigation into a private chat room dedicated to the advertisement and distribution of child pornography. The investigation led law enforcement to Pennington’s residence in Las Vegas, Nevada. (He had recently been granted parole after serving ten years for […]
Qualified immunity denied for detention following search of apartment
Facts (If you are new to 1983 actions, click here for help) On September 4, 2015, the emergency services dispatch in Abilene, Texas, received an anonymous call wherein an unidentified individual informed the dispatcher that “I just shot my girlfriend” and “I used a 9mm to shoot my girlfriend right in the f—ing eye.” The […]
Question as to whether responding officer could smell marijuana
Facts (If you are new to 1983 actions, click here for help) In July 2020, Cedric Otkins parked his car in the parking lot of the East Bank Bridge Park after it had closed, violating St. Charles Parish Ordinance Section 17-2. Spotting Otkins’s car, Sergeant Jack Gilboy of the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office pulled […]
Qualified immunity for officer who used knee strike to combat non compliant subject
Facts (If you are new to 1983 actions, click here for help) In mid-2017, Dwayne Walker was released on parole after serving approximately thirty years in prison for a variety of convictions ranging from drug crimes to burglaries. Just a few months after his release, on November 14, 2017, Walker agreed to sell crack cocaine […]