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 […]
Subject seeks confession suppressed based upon being under influence, tired, and just learning of friend’s death
Facts In 2014, Skylar O’Kelly and his brother Daylin went to an apartment to visit a friend from high school in Starkville, Mississippi. The friend, Parker Rodenbaugh, had four other roommates and there was a fantasy football draft taking place at the house. O’Kelly, Daylin, and Rodenbaugh went downstairs and smoked marijuana. O’Kelly then asked […]
Telephone calls made from jail admissible and Search Warrant had probable cause
Facts In 2013, a confidential informant who had worked with police for four years and provided credible information in the past, told Clarksdale P.D. that Herman Jackson possessed a large amount of marijuana and that he was selling it out of his home. Police obtained a search warrant for the home and found marijuana, scales, […]
Constructive possession found when friend testified they snorted cocaine together that night
Facts In 2016, Darius Haynes and Kimmeisha Harris fought at a friend’s house. After the fight, Haynes left with Xavier Brown in Brown’s maroon Mercury Marquis, which had a broken-out back window. Meanwhile, Harris went to the hospital, where she gave Investigator Wendell Fountain a statement. Harris told Fountain that, during the fight, she thought […]
Private person recording conversation using police equipment before subject charged
Facts A 10th grade female basketball player was sexually abused by Leslie Dewitt, who was her coach, on more than 20 occasions. The minor eventually told her mother, Monique, who took her to police. Monique told police she was going to confront Dewitt and record the conversation using her cell phone. Police asked if she […]
Officer discovered drugs in plain view and subject also lacked standing to object
Facts In 2014, Office Mark Gore, Philadephia P.D., noticed a driver and passenger who were not wearing seat belts. Gore stopped the car and watched as the passenger, Jeremy Nowell, appeared to be sticking a glass pipe down his pants. He got Nowell out of the car and told him what he saw. Nowell became […]