Possessing a marked $20 bill did not prove subject was in constructive possession of drugs
Facts On March 24, 2017, the Narcotics Division of the Madison County Sheriff’s Office obtained a warrant to search a pool hall in Canton run by Robert Smoots. They obtained the warrant based on an affidavit stating that a confidential informant (CI) purchased cocaine at the pool hall for forty dollars using marked bills the […]
Gun seized from murder suspect under plain view and/or Search incident to arrest
Facts In 2016, Joshua McDonald and Edmond Clark were working on a car when Devonte Easterling approached the car and fatally shot McDonald. Easterling fled but then called police to turn himself in. Easterling came out of his grandmother’s home and met the officers in the driveway. Officer Joseph Barnes told Easterling to turn around. […]
Person in custody who initiates conversation with police is not being interrogated for Miranda purposes
Facts In 2013, police in Greenville, Mississippi, arrested Clifton Dean and another man for the murder of Fredrick Williams. While Dean was being transported to the municipal courthouse for a preliminary hearing, he asked police Investigator Jeremey Arendale if he could talk to him about what happened that night. After Arendale assured Dean that he […]
Person who volunteers to ride with police and give statement is not in custody for Miranda
Facts In 2014, a five year old girl went missing from her apartment. After a 12 hour search, her body was found in an abandoned trailer fifty yards from her apartment complex. She had been raped and killed. Based on a tip, police were searching a neighbor’s apartment when Alberto Garcia approached them and engaged […]
Clarifying ambiguous requests to remain silent and/or requests for a lawyer are good police practices but not required
Facts 13 year-old Amy is Jessica Orr’s aunt’s daughter, but Amy has lived with Orr since her birth due to her mother’s death. Amy is a special needs child and has ADHD. In 2016, Jessica Orr walked down the street to pick up her children, who had been playing in the neighbor’s pool. As Orr […]
Admissibility of confession depends on degree of intoxication
Facts In 2016, Captain Chris Selman of Forrest County S.O. was monitoring traffic from a marked vehicle in the parking lot of a shopping center in Hattiesburg when Melissa Cruz approached him and said she had just killed her boyfriend. Cruz was not emotional or upset. Selman noticed the hood of her car was caved […]