Subject found in constructive possession when using another person’s apartment to receive a package
Facts In 2015, Postal Inspector Dominick Riley was working at the United States Postal Inspection Service Center in Jackson, Mississippi. Part of his duties as a postal inspector included looking at packages for indicators that they may contain narcotics. During a routine check, Riley noticed a suspicious express mail package. The package was heavily taped […]
Stuffing something between the seats is a factor for constructive possession
Facts In 2016, Shawn Lavant was stopped by Officer James Cowan with the Biloxi Police Department for driving without his vehicle’s headlights on. Lavant was the only person in the vehicle when Cowan stopped him. The vehicle belonged to Dorothy Parnell, but Lavant admitted that he frequently used the vehicle. Cowan testified that as he […]
Taking a person out of the vehicle at gunpoint and placing them in handcuffs is permissible in some Terry stops
Facts In 2011, around 11:30 p.m., John Wrenn was having an argument with a Mr. Frazier outside of Frazier’s house. Mr. Frazier asked Wrenn to leave several times but he refused. Dorothy Frazier, his wife, called 911 and while she was on the phone, she saw Wrenn point a shotgun at Mr. Frazier and then […]
Inventory search of bag containing lube was proper
Facts Seven year old Robert lived with his mother and sister at his grandmother’s house. A party took place at the home and the grandmother’s boyfriend and the boyfriend’s bother, Charles Blake, attended. Blake went inside with the children and a teenage cousin found Blake pulling Robert back and forth in a strange way. Robert’s […]
Man exiting a shed is found to be in constructive possession of a rifle
Facts In 2015, two men approached the gun counter of K and S Outdoors (K&S) in Columbus, Mississippi. One asked to look at a pistol, and the other asked to look at a long gun. The K&S clerk, Chad Fortner, handed one of the men a pistol and the other a Ruger- SR-762 rifle. Both men […]
Car accident in parking lot was not reckless disregard under MTCA
Facts On the afternoon of May 11, 2015, Officer Michael Kelly was responding to a call that an intoxicated person was lying unconscious on the sidewalk outside the Days Inn in Clinton, Mississippi. While en route, his police vehicle collided with Patrice Tornes’s car. According to Officer Kelly, he drove south through the neighboring parking […]