Tag: search and seizure
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Divided 10th Circuit takes no issue with surprise police encounter with suspect
Police officers who unexpectedly encountered a Durango-area man while they were preparing to search his nearby home did not commit a constitutional violation by seizing his phone during the ensuing traffic stop, the Denver-based federal appeals court ruled last week. Kalub Sean Jackson pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child pornography and received a…
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Colorado Supreme Court concerned about police overreach in interrogations
Some members of the Colorado Supreme Court appeared hesitant on Tuesday to endorse the ability of police to interrogate a suspect after they have obtained a court order authorizing only the collection of physical evidence. Under Colorado’s criminal rules, law enforcement may obtain an order for “nontestimonial identification,” allowing them to pursue a person’s fingerprints, blood specimen,…
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10th Circuit provides guidance on police searches of cloud-based data
The Denver-based federal appeals court provided guidance to law enforcement agencies on Monday for ensuring that searches of cloud-based accounts comply with the Fourth Amendment’s requirements. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit noted that a search of information stored in the cloud is “categorically different” from searching an…
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Federal judge finds no constitutional violation by Huerfano County well inspectors
A federal judge concluded last month that two Huerfano County employees did not engage in an unconstitutional search when they approached the plaintiffs’ camper within 40 feet to investigate a potential code violation. In July 2021, the county’s building inspector, Terry Sandoval, received a complaint about improper well construction on property designated for agricultural use.…
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Federal judge blocks evidence from Aurora police’s unconstitutional search
A federal judge ruled last month that prosecutors cannot use firearm evidence against a defendant because Aurora police searched him without having any reasonable basis to believe he was armed and dangerous. In evaluating the constitutionality of the search, U.S. District Court Senior Judge William J. Martínez noted that police officers were called to a…
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‘Beware!’ 10th Circuit judge calls for full-court review of precedent on police searches without arrest
The Colorado-based federal appeals court green-lit an unreasonable search claim against a Denver police officer on Tuesday, while one judge called for full-court reconsideration of a 44-year-old precedent limiting law enforcement’s ability to search suspects even when probable cause exists to arrest them. William Montgomery’s lawsuit against Officer Armando Cruz featured several unusual developments, but…
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Lakewood police acted unconstitutionally in using drug detection dog, Supreme Court rules by 5-2
Lakewood police violated the constitutional prohibition on unreasonable searches by ensuring a driver’s door remained open so a drug detection dog could sniff inside the vehicle without probable cause, the Colorado Supreme Court concluded on Monday. In the 5-2 decision, all justices agreed with the principle that law enforcement conducts a search if they “facilitate”…
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Appeals court rules Denver ordinance’s constitutionality has no bearing on lawfulness of arrest
Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday that regardless of whether a plaintiff could later show Denver’s ordinance was unconstitutional, arresting officers were acting with probable cause at the time and could not be held liable. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals pointed to a 1979 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that indicated…
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Colorado Supreme Court says license plate corresponding to other vehicle is grounds for stopping driver
An Adams County deputy’s discovery that the license plates on a vehicle were registered to another car provided him the reasonable suspicion required to detain the driver, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday. However, the justices stopped short of deeming the subsequent vehicle search constitutional, as the trial judge had not yet evaluated whether…
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Federal judge dismisses man’s claims against Jeffco SWAT officers for home raid
A federal judge last month dismissed a man’s claims that Jefferson County SWAT team members violated his constitutional rights by forcefully entering his home with little warning, damaging the apartment and removing him half-naked while they executed a search warrant. Lance P. Schendorf is serving a 20-year prison sentence after a jury convicted him in…