The use of a two-step interrogation tactic, obtaining a full un-Mirandized confession before seeking a Miranda waiver and a second confession, precludes a finding that the waiver was knowingly and intelligently made.
A detained individual may be subjected to a patdown for weapons only when there is a reasonable suspicion to believe that he may be armed. A full body search requires probable cause to believe the subject possesses contraband or other evidence of a crime.
The Automobile Exception to the search warrant requirement allows for the warrantless search of a vehicle when officers have probable cause to believe it contains evidence of a crime. Searching cellphones requires a search warrant. Miranda does not apply to the questioning of an in-custody witness while not expecting him...
Warrantless searches within the curtilage of one’s home must be supported by both probable cause and exigent circumstances.
Officers are entitled to qualified immunity from civil liability unless the rules violated are clearly established. A confession after a clear and unequivocal invocation of one’s right to counsel is inadmissible at trial. Interrogation tactics that “shock the conscience” are a Fourteenth Amendment Due Process violation.
A police officer’s use of force against a resisting arrestee must be “objectively reasonable” under the circumstances to be lawful, taking into account the surrounding circumstances.
With probable cause to believe a vehicle contains contraband or other evidence of a crime, the vehicle and any containers found therein may be searched without a search warrant.
Intrusive body cavity searches of jail inmates may be unlawful, depending upon the availability of a less intrusive means of determining whether the inmate is hiding contraband in her body.
An officer’s illegal detention or arrest, and/or his or her use of unreasonable force, negates the necessary element of a resisting arrest charge per P.C. §§ 69 and/or 148(a)(1) that the officer acted in the performance of his or her duty.
The hot pursuit by law enforcement of a fleeing misdemeanant into his home, absent an exigency above and beyond the flight itself, violates the Fourth Amendment.
