exigent circumstances
DUI hot police pursuit should be challenged by the defense
DUI hot police pursuit into a suspect's home is not automatically lawful under the United States Constitution's Fourth Amendment. The same goes for all warrantless misdemeanor police entries into one's home. This rule was not clarified until two weeks ago, by the Supreme Court. As...
Special need exception to reasonable suspicion – Fairfax criminal lawyer decries it
Special need is sometimes used by police to try to justify stopping people when they do not have probable cause nor individualized reasonable articulable suspicion to stop, frisk or search a person for evidence of criminal activity. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I am disheartened...
Exigent circumstances permit a drug search despite defective warrant – VA
Exigent circumstances permit a drug search despite a defective search warrant, says the Virginia Supreme Court. Virginia v. Campbell, __ Va. __ (Dec. 14, 2017). As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know about exigent circumstances all too well.
Blood alcohol test exigencies addressed by Fairfax DUI lawyer
When is a blood alcohol test justified without consent nor a search warrant, in a DUI case? When sufficient exigent circumstances exists for doing so.
Virginia Supreme Court rules 4-3 on the wrong side of the law for exigent searches
Praised be the three Virginia Supreme Court justices who on September 17, 2015, dissented from the four-justice majority that affirmed a warrantless apartment search purportedly conducted pursuant to exigent circumstances. Evans v. Virginia, , ___ Va. ___ (Sept. 17, 2015). The search found a substantial...