BRANDON AMES v. STATE OF MARYLAND
Court of Special Appeals, Moylan, Feb. 3, 2017,
Frisk- To conduct a frisk, an officer must first have reasonable suspicion to conduct a stop and then have reasonable suspicion that the individual is armed and dangerous
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. SHAQUILLE MONTEL ROBINSON
US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (En Banc 11-1-4), Niemeyer, Jan. 23, 2017,
Frisk – During a forced police encounter, an individual need only be “armed and thus dangerous” for an officer to conduct a frisk
(Concur- Wynn- Armed and dangerous are independent factors, but RAS the suspect has a firearm satisfies the ‘dangerous’ requirement)
(Dissent – Harris, Gregory, Motz, Davis- Armed and dangerous are independent factors)
Continue reading
STATE OF MARYLAND v. JAMAL RASHEED SIZER
Court of Special Appeals, Moylan, Nov. 29, 2016,
Terry Stop – For Terry purposes, a “high-crime area” need not be as violent as Wardlow‘s south Chicago.
Affirmed on other grounds by COA
(Concur – Graeff- Agrees that stop was valid, evidence shouldn’t be excluded even if stop invalid, but disagrees and thinks the “but-for”/”attenuation” analysis is proper)
(Judge Moylan writes individually to explain the difference between Attenuation, Independent Source, and Inevitable Discovery)
Continue reading
IRA CHASE v. STATE OF MARYLAND
Court of Appeals, Battaglia, August 19, 2016,
Terry – Keeping a suspect in handcuffs for a short period of time after they have been frisked does not automatically transform a Terry stop into an arrest where there is still a reasonable belief that the suspect may have a weapon inside a nearby vehicle.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. ZACHARY M. FOSTER
US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Diaz, May 24, 2016,
Terry – Where defendant reached for his pocket after being asked if he had a weapon, reasonable to stop and frisk where there was a recent 911 call reporting a discharge of firearms in a high-crime area, defendant was the only one seen there, and defendant avoided eye-contact with the officers.
(Concur – Wilkinson – Terry‘s a pretty awesome case and I just want to talk about it a bit.)
Continue reading
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. EZEKIEL DONJA GARDNER
US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Keenan, May 18, 2016
Miranda – Unhandcuffed suspect removed from vehicle was not under “de facto arrest” requiring Miranda when officers told him that they had received information that he had a firearm and asked him whether he had “anything illegal.”
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. MICHAEL JEROME PALMER
US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, King, Filed April 21, 2016,
Search – Vehicle – Where RAS existed to suspect that a VA-required inspection-sticker mounted on the windshield was fraudulent, officer’s entry into the vehicle for purpose of examining the sticker was reasonable and did not constitute an unconstitutional search.
(Concur by Wynn – Taking time to run criminal background check was called for in this case, but is not part of a standard traffic stop)
Continue reading
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. SHAQUILLE MONTEL ROBINSON
US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, Harris, Filed Feb. 23, 2016,
VACATED, EN BANC – opinion by Niemeyer
Seizure – “Because West Virginia authorizes the public carrying of weapons, reasonable suspicion that [an individual] was armed did not by itself justify a Terry frisk”
(Dissent by Niemeyer – 1) The standard is armed and THUS dangerous, 2) the possibility of a valid firearm license did not acceptably minimize the danger to officers, and 3) RAS is not the negation of all possible innocent conduct)
Continue reading