Odor of Marijuana May Not Justify a Vehicle Search – Under Certain Circumstances
As the world slowly but surely progresses to an era when marijuana will be legalized by every State, the courts are lagging behind, as usual. The courts have always been slow in responding to the evolution of things, such as trying to figure out the legality of searches related to electronics. This same issue is
Confessions Must Be Corroborated By Independent Evidence To Prove the Crime
The Minnesota Supreme Court just issued a ruling (State v. Holl, A19-1464) relating to the corpus delicti rule of law, in which a confession to a crime must be accompanied by some other evidence to result in a conviction. The idea is that criminal confessions must be corroborated in order to ensure the confessed-to crime
Minnesota’s Revenge Porn Law Upheld by Supreme Court
A little more than a year ago, the Minnesota Court of Appeals issued a significant ruling when it found that Minnesota’s revenge porn law (more formally known as nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images) was unconstitutionally overbroad and, therefore, the statute was unenforceable. A year later (and this past December), the Minnesota Supreme Court weighed
Being Nervous Does NOT Permit Expanding the Scope of the Stop
Anyone who gets pulled over will tell you – if they’re being honest – that they were being nervous when talking with the cop. It doesn’t matter if the driver was hiding something illegal in the vehicle or was simply pulled over for speeding. It’s expected that a person will be nervous when interacting with
Disorderly Conduct – Fighting Words
The common-law crime of disturbing the peace (n.k.a. disorderly conduct) used to be broadly defined to include any behavior which disturbed the peacefulness of citizens. States took it upon themselves to codify this rule under disorderly conduct statutes. Many of these statutes have been declared unconstitutionally broad when they regulate offensive speech without limiting the
Flipping the Bird to Cops – Not a Basis for the Cop to Stop You (Federal Court Decision)
Let’s be honest. How many times have we wanted to flip the bird to a cop after pulling us over for a mundane traffic violation? Countless? Maybe just a couple? Either way, it’s probably crossed our minds when we think the minor infraction is hardly worthy of the cops attention. Now the question is –
SCOTUS Opinion – Warrant Required to Get Cell Phone Tower Records
In a surprising decision in Carpenter v. U.S., the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled that law enforcement must have a warrant in order to seek historical cell phone tower records that can accurately identify the location of a person based upon the tower their cell phone was using at the time. These cell phone
When is a Miranda Warning Required?
The Fifth Amendment provides that no person shall be compelled to be a witness against themselves in a criminal case. In lay mans terms, the Fifth Amendment is the right against self-incrimination. Per a 1966 United States Supreme Court decision, a Miranda warning is required only for custodial interrogations. Let’s break this down a bit.
Drug Detection Dog Search in a Secured Apartment Building – Get a Warrant!
This week, the Minnesota Court of Appeals issued an important decision, pulling back the expanding usage of drug detection dogs for searches of controlled substances. In State v. Edstrom, the Court of Appeals held that law enforcement must get a warrant (or have an exception to the warrant requirement) in order to use a drug detection dog
When Can Cops Seize Cell Phones?
Let’s be honest – cell phones have become a necessity to our everyday lives. Many would be lost without a cell phone as it houses almost endless amounts of our personal information, from phone numbers, to thousands of photos/videos, and even to our more private and personal information like bank data, passwords, etc. During ongoing