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I wanted to share a question that a student asked in class. I think this is an important topic, so I hope you find it valuable. The question was whether officers conducting a knock-and-talk may place their foot in the front door to prevent it from closing while talking to the occupant, without implicating the […]
Can you make a search incident to arrest even if you’re not planning to formally arrest the person and just issue a citation? Today’s question comes from an officer in Colorado. He essentially asked, “If I have probable cause to issue a citation for paraphernalia, can I also search their backpack or their person? Can […]
Yes, there is some truth to what the old-timers say, “Yeah, we can just ignore that stuff. That’s federal. We’re in a state; we don’t need to listen.” And, to some extent, that’s true. The reason it’s true is that state courts have their own sovereignty and authority to interpret the Fourth Amendment as they […]
If a suspect tells you to leave while you’re in their house and you’re in the process of arresting them, do you have to leave? So, here’s the scenario: You perform a knock and talk with the intention of making an arrest, right? You don’t have a warrant; you just have probable cause (PC) charges. […]
If a citizen tells a cop to leave during a knock and talk, does the cop have to leave? This question actually comes from a citizen, a non-police officer. I think it’s great that non-police officers are also reaching out to see if I can help them with their constitutional questions. I want to help […]
These three golden rules come from reading thousands of court cases over the last 20 years and seeing a theme regarding what the courts are looking for. The First Golden Rule, and the most important one, is: The more you articulate why you did something, the more likely it will be upheld in court. The […]
What is the difference between reasonable suspicion and probable cause? It’s a great question, because even the courts struggle with defining the difference. There is no one definition that’s in the legal dictionary, so let’s look at them separately. First of all, we have to find a hunch. Every officer can have a hunch. Officers […]
Our next topic is: How do you handle misdemeanor crimes that are not committed in your presence? Many states have a misdemeanor restriction that you cannot make an arrest for a mis-demeanor that was not committed in your presence. Now, all of those states that have this restriction also have some exceptions. For example: DUI, […]
What is plain view? Plain view is nothing more than right to be, right to see. That’s the simplicity of it: right to be, right to see, hear and smell. So basically, the idea here is that if you are lawfully present, there is no search under the Fourth Amendment if you are simply using […]
What is the stale misdemeanor rule? The stale misdemeanor rule is a common law doctrine. It essentially means that a crime was committed within the officer’s presence, and he or she could arrest that person right then and there, but waits, and doesn’t arrest yet. If he then arrests sometime down the road, let’s say […]
Anthony Bandiero here, bringing you another question and answer. This one is from an officer in New York. The question is, when officers respond to an OD, and the person is revived, can you take their cell phone as evidence? You want to see who the dealer is, because that’s the person who could potentially […]
This question comes from an officer in Florida. And he asks, “Have courts relaxed the manipulation rule under Terry patdowns?” What the officer’s talking about here is a case that’s called Minnesota versus Dickerson, US Supreme Court. Basically what happened there was that officers patted down Dickerson and they felt an item in his pocket […]
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