Can You Run a K9 Around a Car Parked in a Detached Garage?
A driver pulls into his own detached garage during a traffic stop. Can a K9 sniff the car there, and can you tow it out? Anthony works through Dunn, Lange, Jardines, and the five reasons a government takes a vehicle.
Does a Welfare Check on Someone With Medical Issues Create Exigency?
A caller says her friend has medical issues, missed work, and is not answering. No car, no answer at the door, nothing visible through the windows. An officer in Utah asks whether that is exigency to force entry. Anthony says probably not on these facts, explains what he would ask for instead, and gives the report writing method for when you do go in.
What Is Reason to Believe a Warrant Subject Is Home Under Payton?
An officer in South Dakota has a felony warrant, a landlord confirming the address, the subject’s car out front, lights and voices inside, and lights going out when they knock. Some co-workers still say go get a warrant. Anthony walks through what Payton actually requires and why asking for a warrant answers your own question.
Does a State DV Statute Authorize a Warrantless Entry to Check on a Child?
Arizona’s domestic violence statute says an officer shall conduct a child welfare check when a minor is present. John Wiehn explains why a statute that says shall still does not get you through the front door, and why Payton versus New York is the case on point.
If One Roommate Is on Probation, Can You Search the Other Roommate’s Room?
An officer in Wisconsin asks whether the roommates of someone on house arrest have to live by the same 40 conditions, and whether their rooms can be searched. Anthony says the roommate does not give up one iota of his rights, explains where common authority ends, and says who has to move out when the two cannot coexist.
When Can Police Search Someone’s Trash?
Trash pulls have been around a very long time and they can produce a massive amount of evidence. Anthony walks through the general rule of abandonment, what changes when the can is still on the property or the curtilage, how to handle community dumpsters, and why the best practice is to let the collection company do it.
Can You Arrest a Robbery Suspect Who Tells You to Leave His Curtilage?
Officers had probable cause for a strong armed robbery, no arrest warrant, and a suspect on his own front porch telling them at least five times to leave. Anthony walks through the Fourth Amendment rules of engagement for curtilage, why a felony by itself is not exigency, and why the hardest skill in police work is recognizing when you have been legally beat.
What Happens When Police Get Knock and Talk and Community Caretaking Wrong?
Officers knocked for 30 minutes intending to arrest, then forced entry on a community caretaking theory after a neighbor mentioned a sleeping pill. The case settled for $760,000. Anthony walks the doctrines step by step.
Can Officers Enter a Residence to Serve an Order of Protection?
Matlock gets you in on the protected party’s keys. Randolph and Fernandez govern the objecting co-occupant. And the Ninth Circuit says a separate warrant would be superfluous when you already hold the court order.
Can You Tow a Suspect’s Vehicle From Inside the Garage?
Plain view seizure is an argument if the entry was lawful. But Collins v. Virginia is the pushback, and the harder questions are why there was a call-out and a protective sweep on a reckless driver at all.
Can Police Be Sued for Kicking In a Door During a Civil Standby?
She lives there, so she could have forced the door herself. And because she could do it, she can authorize someone with more brawn to do it for her. The officers were acting as her agent.
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 Police Open a Mailbox to See Who Lives There?
No privacy interest in what is printed on an envelope. The problem is lawful access: walking onto the curtilage just to check a mailbox is a Jardines trespass.
Can Police Re-Enter a Home to Seize Plain View Evidence?
Once you leave the house you generally lose your right to be there. The necessary and continuous doctrine is the narrow way back in, and plain view is grab and go.
Can Police Enter a Home After a 911 Hangup?
A 911 hangup by itself is thin. The rule is the emergency aid exception, not community caretaking, and you need to articulate something more.