Ken Wallentine

Full list of Ken Wallentine results

• Careful questions piece together reasonable suspicion

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  The court determines if a traffic stop was lawfully (or unlawfully) prolonged and if the evidence discovered is admissible

• No stop + no detention + consent = valid search

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  Even though the appellate court held the subject was not seized, the court noted that the troopers had reasonable suspicion to detain her on suspicion of drug trafficking

• Collective knowledge doctrine applies to a traffic stop

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  Court rules that troopers had independent lawful bases to stop a defendant for a traffic violation and investigate drug trafficking based on collective knowledge doctrine

• “Please, sir, I got a gun”

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  In this case, the court rules the suspect knew he had a choice and decided to speak anyway

• Dog bite justified by fear man had a gun

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  The officers’ reasonable belief the subject could have been armed, coupled with his refusal to obey their commands to turn away, justified the use of the dog

• The right to bear arms or disorderly conduct?

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  Surely it would be utter foolishness to ignore a person walking up to a school with a rifle slung on her back and a handgun and other items on a gun belt. Here's what a court had to say

• Does the five-second rule apply to extending a traffic stop to permit a dog sniff?

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  Courts may be open to some truly minimal “negligibly burdensome” delay

• Friendly warning: Cops ahead!

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  After Michael Friend made a sign reading “Cops Ahead,” an officer arrested him for “interfering” with a distracted driving investigation – here's how the court ruled after Friend sued

• Skipping an easy step leads to suppression

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  This case illustrates how good police work can easily be marred by failing to secure a warrant

• Traffic stop by the numbers adds up to admissible evidence

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  The court noted probable cause “is not a high bar: It requires only the kind of fair probability on which reasonable and prudent people, not legal technicians, act.”

• Lessons about search warrant affidavits

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  If you've never written an affidavit for a search warrant, now is the time to learn

• No custody from polite questioning in a public place

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  The appellate court held that the suspect, while not free to leave, was not in custody when an officer first questioned him in the park

• Mean thoughts without wrongful actions don’t violate the Fourth Amendment

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  An action that may be perceived as “mean,” yet doesn’t violate a clearly established constitutional right, will not lead to liability for an officer

• Shine on: Spotlight use doesn’t create detention

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  More than the use of a spotlight, what the officer didn’t do weighed against creating a detention

• Delayed arrest for misdemeanor committed in officers’ presence

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  The best practice: Avoid a custodial arrest for misdemeanors not committed in the officer’s presence

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