Category: Investigation
Updated on June 2, 2020
Kansas v. Glover: U.S. Supreme Court Decides Kansas Case About Traffic Stops
Kansas v. Glover, 140 S.Ct. 1183 (2020). Issue: When an officer learns the registered owner of a vehicle has a revoked driver’s license and initiates a traffic stop, is the inference that the registered owner is also the …
Updated on June 2, 2020
Checking Warrants are within the Scope of Public Safety Stops
State v. McKenna, No. 119,431 (Kan. Ct. App. Jan. 31, 2020). Issue: Is an officer asking for a person’s name and subsequently checking that name for local warrants within the scope of a public safety stop? Answer: Yes, …
Updated on June 2, 2020
Warrantless Blood Test Requires a Remand
State v. Chavez-Majors, No. 115,286 (Kan. Dec. 20, 2019). Issue: Was there probable cause to administer a warrantless blood test on an unconscious driver suspect of a drunk-driving offense? Answer: Yes, there was probable cause to administer a warrantless blood test …
Updated on December 21, 2019
Police Officers Exceed Scope of Welfare Check
State v. Ellis, No. 120,046 (Kan. Ct. App. Nov. 15, 2019) Issue: Did a police officer exceed the scope of a permissible welfare check when he detained the person for whom the welfare check was called after he …
Updated on December 21, 2019
Evidence Found After Discovery of Outstanding Warrant During Welfare Stop is Inadmissible
State v. Manwarren, No. 119,520 (Kan. Ct. App. Apr. 12, 2019). Issue: Unconstitutionally-obtained evidence should be suppressed unless the connection between the evidence and the constitutional violation is too attenuated. Law enforcement officers encountered Richard Manwarren during a …
Posted on January 8, 2019
Publicly-Parked Car Not Seized After Arrest
State v. Parker, No. 112,959 (Kan. Dec. 7, 2018) Issue: Parker was arrested outside his locked car. His car sat in a public parking lot until a drug dog arrived to sniff the vehicle. Was his car unlawfully “seized” by the officers during this time? …
Posted on January 8, 2019
Marijuana Odor Can Justify Probable Cause
State v. Hubbard, No. 113,888 (Kan. Dec. 7, 2018) Issue: Can marijuana odor supply probable cause? Answer: Yes, based on the totality of the circumstances including: proximity, strength of odor, the investigating officer’s experience, etc.
Posted on January 8, 2019
Officers Cannot Search Containers of Already-Identified Drivers Involved in Accident Without a Warrant
State v. Evans, No. 119,458 (Kan. Nov. 21, 2018) Issue: The “community caretaking” exception to the warrant requirement allows officers to conduct limited warrantless searches. Evans, who had already identified herself to officers, was taken from the scene of a car …
