Qualified immunity denied when officer kills homeowner at “open structure call”
Facts (If you are new to 1983 actions, click here for help) On October 12, 2019, at 2:25 a.m., the Fort Worth Police Department received a phone call from one of Atatiana Jefferson’s neighbors. The neighbor told the police that he was concerned that Jefferson’s front door was open. The neighbor also explicitly said that […]
Private search doctrine used for examination of phone by Petal police department
Facts In November 2019, Sarah and her two minor children, Jane and John, lived with Sarah’s boyfriend, William Jeffrey Knight, who was not the biological father of either child. Sarah had begun to suspect Knight was cheating on her, so she resolved to search his cell phone for evidence of infidelity. Although Sarah paid for […]
It is not an interrogation when the subject re-initiates conversation with police
Facts On October 31, 2020, the Jackson Police Department dispatched officers to 636 Lowder Drive. When Officer Reginald Craft arrived, the medical first responders were outside the home treating seventeen-year-old L.T., who was severely injured and unresponsive. Craft went inside, where he found Danny Dabbs and LaTiffany Chambers. Upon entering the house, Craft testified that […]
Tupelo’s stop and search of vehicle was proper
Facts On May 31, 2021, Eric Lamont Turner and his wife, Venise Brown, engaged in a day-long verbal altercation. The Tupelo Police Department was dispatched numerous times to 2000 Nell Street where the couple lived. The second time police answered the call, Brown told them that Turner had a weapon in the trunk of his […]
Automobile search and plain view seizure of items were proper
Facts In the early morning hours of November 27, 2022, Officer Ryu Warnsley of the Hattiesburg Police Department (HPD) was doing a security check at the Luxury Inn on Highway 49 in Hattiesburg. The HPD had received numerous complaints about drug sales and prostitution at the Luxury Inn, so officers regularly inquired with the hotel’s […]
Primary purpose of checkpoint was to check license and insurance
Facts On February 23, 2023, police officers Joe Latham and Adam McGuffee set up a safety checkpoint at a four way stop at the intersection of Highway 18 and Highway 13 in Puckett, Mississippi. Officer McGuffee testified that he saw a vehicle driven by Lavern Kendrick stop short of the checkpoint, about one hundred yards […]