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KS: Community caretaking function here was pretext for investigation

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The Court of Appeals (State v. Marx, 38 Kan. App. 2d 598, 171 P.3d 276 (2007)) was correct that the community caretaking function cannot be a pretext for an investigative stop. State v. Marx, 2009 Kan. LEXIS 844 (September 18, 2009). Defendant was detained because he was put in the back of a police car and was not told he was free to leave. Nevertheless, he could still validly consent. State v. Kemp, 2009 OK CR 25, 2009 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 24 (September 15, 2009).* Officers were able to position themselves to look in windows of defendant's property as they approached for safety purposes on this record. State v. Foster, 2009 Ore. LEXIS 223 (September 17, 2009), rev'g State v. Foster, 219 Or App 276, 182 P3d 262 (2008): In this case, the deputies had a reasonable suspicion that they were about to encounter circumstances in which (1) there might be as many as 10 occupants of the residence, (2) those occupants might be armed, and (3) the occupants might be willing to use force against the deputies...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on September 21, 2009 (boomark / email).