Officer traffic stop of stolen car and consent search was proper
Facts In 2016, Sergeant Brad Conner with Brandon P.D. received a BOLO for a stolen truck traveling westbound on I-20. Conner observed the truck, which matched the BOLO to include the license plate, speeding and stopped the vehicle. Conner got Roosevelt Harris and his son out of the truck and handcuffed them for his protection […]
Lineup may have been suggestive but it was still reliable
Facts In 2016, Freddie Jean Williams, who was seventy-four years old at the time, arrived at her Cleveland, Mississippi, home around 11:00 p.m. Williams parked inside her carport and retrieved her blue purse and her clear work bag from the trunk of her car. As Williams was retrieving these items, she heard a noise and […]
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 […]