Tag: fourth amendment
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Thornton officer’s unlawful search prompts appeals court to overturn Adams County drug conviction
An Adams County judge wrongly allowed evidence from an unconstitutional search in a man’s trial, prompting Colorado’s second-highest court to overturn the drug conviction last month. Jurors convicted Thomas Sandoval of one count of drug possession, after a Thornton police officer discovered a small container of methamphetamine during a pat-down search for weapons. Sandoval appealed,…
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Federal judge, again, declines to dismiss lawsuit against Pueblo deputies in man’s killing
For the second time, a federal judge last week refused to dismiss the excessive force claims against a Pueblo County sheriff’s deputy who shot and killed a man outside a middle school after the man accidently tried to get into a car he mistook for his own. Kristy Ward Stamp, mother of the late Richard Ward,…
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10th Circuit allows man to sue officer for seizing personal items from pockets at Walmart
The federal appeals court based in Denver agreed last month that a man could sue an off-duty Aurora police officer for seizing items from his pockets at a Walmart store under the mistaken belief they were shoplifted. William Montgomery has filed a series of state and federal lawsuits based on a similar pattern of events:…
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10th Circuit finds no constitutional violation from warrantless arrest in man’s front yard
The federal appeals court based in Denver agreed on Wednesday that Greeley police did not violate the U.S. Constitution by walking onto a man’s front yard and pulling him out of his vehicle for a traffic infraction without a warrant. The Fourth Amendment generally requires law enforcement to obtain a warrant before conducting searches and…