Practice Areas

Blog

Legal News

Library

Case Results

DISCLAIMER: Please note that every case is different and these verdicts and settlements, while accurate, do not represent what we may obtain for you in your case.

The Case of the Lying Policeman

Because a traffic stops can constitute a “seizure” under the Fourth Amendment, before stopping a car and questioning its occupant, the policeman must have at least “an articulable suspicion” that something “foul is afoot,” or better yet, have probable cause to believe a crime has been or is being committed.” Consider this situation where neither standard was met before the traffic stop was made.

A policeman stopped a white Cadillac and arrested the driver and occupant because he said the car met the description of one that had been reportedly involved in a shooting minutes before. Finding no weapon, and having nothing but a general description of the shooters, he had to bolster his reason for the stop, so he represented to the court he also observed spent bullet shell casings in the front windshield well above the wipers. During the search of the car following the arrest, he found a small quantity of marijuana in a console, and charged the client with marijuana possession. The client denied any knowledge of a shooting incident and the officer’s claim about the shell casings.

On cross-examination by Mr. Stelly, the officer could not produce the shell casings and gave no explanation to the court why he could not (there weren’t any, that’s why!!). He also admitted that the description given of the Cadillac involved in the shooting was very common to many other Cadillacs in the city. Mr. Stelly asked if he was given a license plate number of the car involved by the dispatcher, and he said “yes,” and checked his notes and read the license plate of the Cadillac police were looking as reported to him by the dispatcher. He reluctantly admitted he failed to check it against the license plate of the defendant’s car before stopping it, which should have been the first thing he did!

When asked to read the license plate number from the defendant’s car during the cross examination, the license plate numbers did not match. The court ruled that the officer, though armed with specific, detailed information concerning the suspect car but not relying upon it, did not have probable cause to stop the defendant’s Cadillac. The marijuana was found to have been illegally seized as incident to an illegal arrest and the charges dismissed.

n.b. Perhaps most disturbing to me in this case was that there was no administrative or court action taken against the officer for his apparent perjury about the shell casing!

Free Reports

Free Case Evaluation

FAQs