Can You Tow a Car When a Sober Passenger Can Drive It Away?
An officer in Texas asks whether he can tow an arrested driver’s car when a licensed, sober passenger is willing to take it, and whether the answer changes when the driver is not the owner. Anthony covers community caretaking, pretext tows, and the North Dakota case where a pretext inventory suppressed a body in a trunk.
Can You Reach Under a Jacket During a Terry Frisk?
An officer in Arizona asks whether he can remove or reach under a heavy jacket to frisk someone he cannot effectively pat down, and whether a purse or backpack is fair game. Anthony covers what armed and dangerous really means, peeling the onion, and why high crime area plus criminal history is not enough.
Can a K9 Sniff Luggage at a Bus Station?
A canine handler in Nevada was asked to run his dog around luggage coming off a Greyhound bus. Anthony works through when the sniff is free, when moving a bag becomes a Fourth Amendment seizure, what reasonable suspicion buys you, and why sourcing the alert matters before you start opening bags.
Can You Unlock a Car to Retrieve Someone’s Lost or Mislaid Property?
No exception covers it. Not the motor vehicle exception, not community caretaking, and no judge is signing a warrant. The lockout kit was wrong, and so was the brass telling him to impound and get one.
Can You Seize a Bicycle Based Only on a Victim’s Word That It Is Stolen?
No receipt, no serial number, and a bike tied up beside a tent. When ownership is contested and the circumstantial evidence is thin, the move is to stay neutral and send them to civil court.
Can Police Seize a Gun in Plain View in a Parked Car Under Community Caretaking?
Cady v. Dombrowski is the anchor. Caniglia, Valencia and Chavez are different cases. With a gun in plain view in an unregistered car in a public lot, the initial seizure likely holds.
Can Police Unload or Disassemble a Lawfully Carried Gun During a Traffic Stop?
An officer in Texas asks whether police have to return a firearm to its original state and location after a traffic stop search. Anthony Bandiero on what you can do, and what you should.
SCOTUS Strikes Hawaii’s Private Property Carry Consent Rule
Wolford v. Lopez U.S. Supreme Court Holds Unconstitutional a Hawaii Law Prohibiting the Licensed Carry of Firearms on Private Property, Open to the Public, Without Express Consent Overview In 2022, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen affirmed the “Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms in public for self-defense.” Subsequently, […]
Can Weed Odor Justify a Vehicle Search?
An officer conducts a traffic stop in Texas with multiple occupants in the vehicle. During the stop, the officer detects the odor of marijuana coming from inside the car. Marijuana remains illegal under Texas law. Based on the odor, officers decide to search the vehicle. Without asking for consent and without deciding to make an […]
Stop and Frisk on Traffic Stop
One weapon gives probable cause there are more. Michigan v. Long covers the grab area and the containers in it, but peel the onion. And on a consensual encounter, armed alone is not enough.
Case Law on Standing
Abandoned property gets no Fourth Amendment protection, so there is no standing to contest the search. But asking only “is it yours” leaves the door open. Ask the second question.
Purses, Bags and Backpacks
This question is: Can you look inside a woman’s purse, or a man’s backpack during a pat down? Can you pat down a purse or a backpack during a Terry stop? The answer is, “Maybe.” Here’s how this works. We know that patdowns are an overall minimally intrusive way to protect yourself from weapons and […]
Single Purpose Container Doctrine
This question came in from an officer in Indiana: would the single purpose container doctrine allow cops to search a vehicle’s hidden compartment? The answer starts with what a single purpose container actually is, and then works back to the compartment. What is a single purpose container? All right guys, welcome to another roadside chat. […]
Seizing Evidence Obtained by Another Person
How can police seize evidence that was obtained unlawfully by another person? Hello. My name is Anthony Bandiero, attorney and senior legal instructor for Blue to Gold Law Enforcement Training. This question comes from an officer in Miami. He says, ‘We went to a number one call for a domestic disturbance. We’re inside the residence […]