Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Fourth Amendment

Criminal Law

: Fourth Amendment

MA: Dog sniff of car that ran out of gas was based on RS; it also was not "stopped"

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Dog sniff by consent of the defendant's car after he was encountered by the officer when he'd run out of gas was valid. The defendant was not stopped in a constitutional sense when the officer stopped to check on whether he needed aid. Questioning led to reasonable suspicion. Commonwealth v. Mateo-German, 2009 Mass. LEXIS 83 (May 21, 2009). During a knock and talk for a runaway girl, defendant consented to an entry into his apartment but not its search. No reason was articulated, or could be, for officer safety to justify a protective sweep. There were no exigent circumstances shown. Valtierra v. State, 2009 Tex. App. LEXIS 3634 (Tex. App.–San Antonio May 27, 2009): Here, the evidence presented the following facts. Officer Moncada learned that a thirteen-year-old female runaway was living in an apartment in Boerne, Texas...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on June 01, 2009 (boomark / email).