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Officers who testified to nonexistent stop sign not credible

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Officers who testified that the defendant ran a stop sign were not believed by the USMJ after people in the neighborhood testified that there never was a stop sign at the intersection where defendant allegedly ran the stop sign. The stop was without probable cause. United States v. Davis, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87888 (N.D. Ohio May 13, 2008)* ("The undersigned finds it unreasonable for these three seasoned police officers to fail to notice that it was impossible for Defendant to run a stop sign that clearly does not exist. Therefore, even if the undersigned were to credit the testimony of Officers Patton, McLaughlin, and Pantall, that testimony still fails to establish an articulable basis in probable cause due to the unreasonable nature of the mistake...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on November 01, 2008 (boomark / email).