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OH3: Officer must at least articulate a legal basis for the stop

FourthAmendment.com - News - Wed, 2025-06-18 08:57

Where officer could not articulate a facial legal basis for the stop, it was unreasonable as a matter of law. In addition, the trial court made a finding of fact [likely to help the officer] that was never in the testimony at the hearing. State v. Haas, 2012 Ohio 2362, 2012 Ohio App. LEXIS 2080 (3d Dist. May 29, 2012):

[*P27] In light of the relevant case law from this and other districts, we hold that when a defendant's conduct does not facially violate the traffic statute which provides the sole basis for the officer's alleged reasonable articulable suspicion, the stop is unconstitutional.

. . .

[*P33] The State argues that it would be unreasonable to expect our law enforcement officers to know the details of every traffic offense and to make an accurate determination of the statute's applicability. Such requirements, the State explains, would hamper law enforcement to the extent it would cause "paralysis by analysis." We aver that knowledge of the traffic laws is the very essence of a patrol officer's job. To require any less than an accurate, working knowledge of the traffic offenses and to fail to ensure that the one being seized at least reasonably appeared to have violated a statute on its face gravely deprives citizens of their constitutional right to be free from warrantless searches and seizures.

[*P34] This is the unfortunate scenario in the present case. Officer Wymer unconstitutionally seized Haas under the suspicion that Haas violated a law. However, the officer's own testimony revealed that he did not know the requirements of this very law. Haas was not and could not have been engaged in the specific criminal activity testified to by Officer Wymer. Yet he was seized and arrested due to the officer's lack of knowledge of the very law he was enforcing.

Cable talks of 'veiled threats'

BBC - News - Wed, 2025-06-18 08:57
Business Secretary Vince Cable has said "veiled threats" were made against the Liberal Democrats when he was assessing News Corporation's 2010 bid for BSkyB.
Categories: BBC, News

Day in pictures: 30 May 2012

BBC - News - Wed, 2025-06-18 08:57
24 hours of news photos: 30 May
Categories: BBC, News

Britons held over Bali drug haul

BBC - News - Wed, 2025-06-18 08:57
Four Britons remain in custody in Bali over a £1.6m cocaine haul amid claims that they may face the death penalty.
Categories: BBC, News

ACLU lawsuit to challenge Ill. gay marriage ban

AP - U.S. News - Wed, 2025-06-18 08:57
CHICAGO (AP) -- More than two dozen gay and lesbian couples in Illinois plan to file lawsuits Wednesday arguing that it's unconstitutional for the state to deny them the right to marry, a move advocates hope will lead to legalized same-sex marriage in Illinois....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

ACLU lawsuit to challenge Ill. gay marriage ban

AP - U.S. News - Wed, 2025-06-18 08:57
CHICAGO (AP) -- More than two dozen gay and lesbian couples in Illinois plan to file lawsuits Wednesday arguing that it's unconstitutional for the state to deny them the right to marry, a move advocates hope will lead to legalized same-sex marriage in Illinois....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

MA: Pulling down defendant's pants on street for strip search for drugs in his buttocks was unreasonable

FourthAmendment.com - News - Wed, 2025-06-18 08:57

Defendant was virtually strip searched for drugs on the street. He was arrested and face down on the sidewalk, and the arresting officers pulled down his pants to get to the drugs hidden in his buttocks. This was unreasonable. The officers knew that the lump in his pants was not a weapon. Commonwealth v. Morales, 2012 Mass. LEXIS 463 (May 29, 2012):

Here, with regard to the strip search, at the time when Detective Desmarais removed the drugs from between the defendant's buttock area, the police did not, as we suggested in Commonwealth v. Thomas, supra at 409 n.5, conduct the search in a private room or in any private location. The handcuffed defendant was face down on a public sidewalk and surrounded by four police officers. Detective Desmarais had determined that the lump in the rear of the defendant's shorts was not a weapon. Thus, there was no concern that the defendant could have used a weapon against the officers, fled, or destroyed evidence. With no exigency existing, the defendant should have been transported to a private space or location. Doing so would have avoided what followed, namely, the public exposure of his buttocks, an embarrassing and humiliating intrusion of the defendant's privacy. Indeed, the policy of the Lowell police department prohibits strip searches outside the confines of a police station. In the circumstances, the location of this search was inappropriate.

The manner in which the search proceeded, whereby the defendant's buttocks were publicly exposed in the absence of exigent circumstances, was unreasonable. See Paulino v. State, 399 Md. 341, 359 (2007) (instead of reaching into defendant's underwear to retrieve contraband, officer lifted up defendant's underwear and publicly exposed his buttocks, which rendered search unreasonable). There was no explanation in the record why Detective Desmarais was able to inspect the defendant's buttocks area for drugs without public exposure, but was unable to retrieve the drugs without the resulting exposure. If Detective Desmarais could not have retrieved the drugs without exposing the defendant's buttocks, he should not have conducted the search on a public sidewalk. Both the inappropriate location of the search and the manner in which it was conducted rendered the strip search constitutionally unreasonable under both the Federal and State Constitutions. Accordingly, we affirm the judge's order of suppression.

Bolt plays down Gatlin challenge

BBC - News - Wed, 2025-06-18 08:57
Usain Bolt dismisses suggestions ex-Olympic champion Justin Gatlin will be the biggest challenger for his 100m crown at London 2012.
Categories: BBC, News

Bolt storms back to form in Rome

BBC - News - Wed, 2025-06-18 08:57
Usain Bolt storms to victory in 9.76 seconds in the Rome Diamond League meeting, ahead of Asafa Powell.
Categories: BBC, News

Martinez ready to clarify future

BBC - News - Wed, 2025-06-18 08:57
Wigan manager Roberto Martinez will hold talks with chairman Dave Whelan on Wednesday as he seeks to clarify his future.
Categories: BBC, News

Six guilty of police station riot

BBC - News - Wed, 2025-06-18 08:57
Six males are found guilty over a firebomb attack on a Nottingham police station during last summer's riots.
Categories: BBC, News

Opinion: How to stop election insanity

CNN - Top Stories - Wed, 2025-06-18 08:57
Lewis Beale says there is hope for this country's infuriating, dysfunctional campaign process. Here's 5 suggestes for starters
Categories: CNN, News

Rio's housing prices spell trouble in paradise

AP - World News - Wed, 2025-06-18 08:57
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- Moving to Rio, I had visions of paradise, of a sprawling apartment with panoramic views over a palm-lined beach....

Rio's housing prices spell trouble in paradise

AP - World News - Wed, 2025-06-18 08:57
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- Moving to Rio, I had visions of paradise, of a sprawling apartment with panoramic views over a palm-lined beach....

Rio's housing prices spell trouble in paradise

AP - World News - Wed, 2025-06-18 08:57
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- Moving to Rio, I had visions of paradise, of a sprawling apartment with panoramic views over a palm-lined beach....

Rio's housing prices spell trouble in paradise

AP - World News - Wed, 2025-06-18 08:57
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- Moving to Rio, I had visions of paradise, of a sprawling apartment with panoramic views over a palm-lined beach....

Rio's housing prices spell trouble in paradise

AP - World News - Wed, 2025-06-18 08:57
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- Moving to Rio, I had visions of paradise, of a sprawling apartment with panoramic views over a palm-lined beach....

Police reopen 1992 murder probe

BBC - News - Wed, 2025-06-18 08:57
Police reopen their investigation into the murder of 19-year-old student Amanda Duffy in Hamilton 20 years ago.
Categories: BBC, News

Murder claim was 'wicked story'

BBC - News - Wed, 2025-06-18 08:57
Shafilea Ahmed's sister invented a "wicked story" that her parents killed the teenager following her arrest for robbery, a court is told.
Categories: BBC, News

W.D.Mo.: Refusal to remove one hand from pockets was RS

FourthAmendment.com - News - Wed, 2025-06-18 08:57

The officer was suspicious of defendant who would not remove his hands from his pockets during an encounter, and he directed defendant to remove his hands, but only one was pulled out. This was reasonable suspicion defendant was armed. United States v. Manuel, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73703 (W.D. Mo. May 8, 2012).*

Defendant was properly seized incident to his arrest, the court finding it was in his hand. Thereafter, a search warrant was issued for the phone, which was valid. United States v. Bass, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73783 (E.D. Mich. May 29, 2012).*

Police responding to a burglary in progress call from a pawnshop’s burglar alarm had reasonable suspicion to stop a vehicle on the parking lot after hours. United States v. Von Bargen, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73458 (D. Idaho May 25, 2012).*

Waiver of collateral attack in guilty plea was binding on defendant. There was no conditional plea, and defendant knew he was waiving the opportunity to challenge the search. United States v. Hernandez, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73728 (E.D. Ky. April 16, 2012).*

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