Police did not deliberately use statements improperly obtained to get confession
Facts In 2020, while driving to the Odessa Police Department (“OPD”), Luis Fernandez called 911 claiming that he was armed and being chased by multiple people. Corporal Ian Kapets and Detective Donny Rocha ran from inside the OPD building to the parking lot, where they observed Fernandez pulling halfway into a parking space while holding […]
Photo lineup was reliable and not impermissibly suggestive
Facts: In 2013 Danzel Williams was working on his car at his brother’s house in Durant when he received a text message from Crystal Pernell asking him to come “chill.” Pernell and Danzel had been frequently meeting and having sex with one another for more than a year. For these meetings, Danzel would usually drive […]
Qualified immunity denied for officers accused of beating an unresisting subject to death after car stop
Facts Ronald Greene was driving on U.S. Highway 80 in Monroe, Louisiana around 12 a.m. on May 10, 2019. Trooper Dakota DeMoss attempted to stop Mr. Greene for an unspecified violation. Mr. Greene sped away, and a pursuit ensued. He eventually crashed into a wooded area. Mr. Greene’s vehicle was only moderately damaged, and he […]
Pretrial detainee who is unrestrained, uncooperative, and had recently attacked guards denied §1983 when he is forcefully taken down
Facts In 2018, Zachariah Holm initiated a violent altercation with correctional officers as a pretrial detainee held in the Comal County Jail. The incident was captured on video. Holm and several other pretrial detainees had flooded their cell block, and officers responded in riot gear to deescalate the scene. Disobeying direct orders to face the […]
Video and audio helped to prove that officers did not provide false statements in affidavit
Facts In 2014, Roberto Garcia was arrested for driving while intoxicated. He was found sleeping in a parked vehicle in a private driveway to a construction site, which was steps away from a public road. According to Garcia, a friend was driving the vehicle with Garcia in the passenger seat when the car’s engine began […]
search warrant which authorized viewing of pictures on cell phone for drugs is saved by good faith exception
Facts State trooper Burt Blue pulled over Brian Morton’s van on Interstate 20 about fifty miles west of Fort Worth. After approaching the driver’s side door, Blue smelled marijuana. Morton eventually admitted he had marijuana in the van. Blue then searched Morton and found an Advil bottle in his right pocket. The bottle contained several […]