by Douglas Ankney
Tear gas is a chemical weapon banned by numerous international treaties from use in warfare. But as the images on the nightly news show us, police have used it indiscriminately on crowds of peaceful protesters.
A main chemical in tear gas is 2-chlorobenzylidene malonitrile, or “CS.” CS ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled that a deputy trying to help a woman retrieve her belongings by opening the lid to a camper did not make a subsequent warrantless search lawful under the community-caretaking exception to the warrant requirement.
Deputy Buddy Clinton ...
by Douglas Ankney
A recent report found that officers in the New York Police Department (“NYPD”) fired their Tasers 995 times in 2018. Of those incidents, 224 times the use of the Tasers was unintentional.
Retired NYPD Captain John Eterno, now director of graduate studies in criminal justice at Malloy ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of California held that California Penal Code § 459.5(b) prohibits charging both shoplifting and theft for the same property, even in the alternative.
Anthony Lopez exited a Walmart pushing a cart containing merchandise valued at $496.37. An asset protection officer confronted him, and Lopez ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled that imposition of GPS monitoring as a condition of bail was an unreasonable search because the monitoring did not further any legitimate governmental interest.
In July 2015, Eric Norman was charged in Boston Municipal Court with possession of a Class ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois that denied Anthony Howell’s motion to suppress, holding that police lacked reasonable suspicion to frisk him.
Chicago Police Officers Sean Kelly and Christopher Miller ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Colorado held that a warrant authorizing a general search of Pamela Kay Coke’s cellphone was overbroad and violated the Fourth Amendment’s particularity requirement.
Fifteen-year-old T.F. told police Coke had sexually assaulted him. T.F. gave officers his cellphone, which contained messages from “Pam” apologizing ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Kansas held that a district court “failed to properly apprise [Bryan Richard] Harris of his right to a jury trial and failed to ensure that Harris understood the nature of the right he was giving up.”
Harris was transported to the Atchison County ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of South Carolina reversed Billy Phillips’ murder conviction because the State presented improper testimony regarding DNA evidence and provided information to the jury that was simply wrong.
Well-known drug dealer Darius Woods was found shot to death on his couch. His handgun — the ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Iowa announced that the words “good cause” in the newly amended appeals statute of Iowa Code § 814.6(1)(a)(3) means “a legally sufficient reason.”
Mercedes JoJean Damme pleaded guilty to two counts of theft in the third degree. The State agreed to seek no ...
