Officers park behind and approach a man talking on his phone in his car, illuminating him with their flashlights. After some casual conversation, they discover he’s on parole, search and find a gun. The trial court ruled one way, the appeals court…
Blood draws from a DUI suspect may be performed only after obtaining either a search warrant, a valid express consent, or under exigent circumstances with probable cause. The Vehicle Code’s implied consent provisions under V.C. § 23612(a)(5) do not…
A Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal decision from Dec. 2023 brings us an interesting discussion of warrantless law enforcement use of prescription-drug databases, tracking warrants and what’s needed for a wiretap that will hold up in court.
Two appeals in the last quarter of 2023 reinforce California’s prosecutions of Watson murders, second-degree murder charges in cases where repeat DUI offenders knowingly drive impaired after having been warned of the dangers. The courts affirm that…
A recent Nevada appellate ruling highlights the differences in what that state’s courts consider reasonable in deadly force cases vs. what California law requires. There’s reasonable, and there’s “reasonable and necessary.” You need to know this.
