A suspect is in custody for purposes of Miranda and must be advised of his Miranda rights whenever the police, in questioning him, have created a police dominated atmosphere.
With probable cause to believe a felon possesses a firearm in his residence, including a request for “any firearm” in the affidavit does not render the warrant “overbroad.”
Upon arresting the occupant of a motor vehicle, the warrantless search of the vehicle is lawful under either or both of two legal theories; i.e., the automobile exception and incident to arrest.
A warrantless vehicle search based up a passenger’s Fourth waiver is valid, as are searches based upon an officer’s good faith believe in the existence of a valid Fourth waiver.
The “Community Caretaking Doctrine,” created to justify warrantless entries into impounded automobiles for a non-criminal investigative purpose, does not justify the warrantless entry into a residence or seizure of firearms therein.
The term “willfully,” for purposes of P.C. § 148(a)(1), Resisting Arrest, requires only that a reasonable person would have understood that the person resisted was a peace officer.
Pitchess discovery is inappropriate absent a showing by the defendant of the materiality of the requested information.
An in-court identification of a defendant by a witness is not necessarily tainted by a suggestive pre-trial photo identification. Brady error does not necessarily result in a new trial where the error is immaterial.
A person is in violation of the felony offense of eavesdropping, pursuant to Penal Code § 632(a), when he surreptitiously records the acts and oral conversations of a prostitute as she plies her trade at a client’s home.
An officer leaning into a vehicle during an otherwise lawful traffic stope constitutes an illegal Fourth Amendment search absent an articulable justification.
The U.S. Supreme Court Case of Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics provides civil plaintiffs with an avenue for suing federal officers who violate the plaintiff’s constitutional rights.
