It all starts with the case of Terry v. Ohio, the seminal case illustrative of the legal issues here. In Terry, a Cleveland police officer, Officer McFadden, observed three males standing outside a jewelry store in a suspicious manner. Officer McFadden’s intuition told him that something wasn’t right about the situation, even though it is… Read More »
The short answer is: Usually, yes. This is because not every contact a person has with the police is a “search and seizure” within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. The police are free to follow you around anywhere you go if you are in public. They don’t need any level of Reasonable Suspicion or… Read More »
The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects us from unreasonable searches and seizures by the Government. The Fourth Amendment provides: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported… Read More »
Though many would argue (including this author) that the source of our rights comes from our Creator, everyone would agree that the modern legalistic basis for our rights as Americans is the U.S. Constitution. That document contains several Amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, which strictly forbid the exercise of certain types of power… Read More »
Here are the things that you want to do without fail during a stop for drunk driving: 1. Be polite and respectful with the police officer. If the case looks tight to the prosecutor, he/she is going to ask the officer if the officer minds if you get a deal. If you were cool to… Read More »
For a first time OVI offense, the trial court is permitted to suspend your driver’s license for any period of time between six months and three years. See R.C. 4510.02. The Court has discretion as to how long the suspension will be. The usual amount of time however is six months. But if there was… Read More »
Sometimes police officers wear some pretty outrageous get ups. Some of them wear SWAT style outfits, camouflage, blacked out ninja outfits, etc. But there are no statutory or regulatory requirements regarding what a police officer’s uniform must look like, with the exception of Ohio Administrative Code 4501:2-5 which outlines the uniform requirements for Ohio Highway… Read More »
If the police officer who pulled you over was primarily on duty for traffic violations, then, unless he is in proper uniform or in a properly marked car, the cannot testify against you in court. Many police departments have tried to get around this law by marking their cars in an indistinct fashion so that… Read More »
As you will recall from reading earlier posts on this website, the police must be in properly marked cars to stop you if they are primarily on duty to enforce traffic laws. But what if one car used in stopping you is marked and the other was not? In the case of Dayton v. Adams,[1]… Read More »
In Ohio, the answer is no. If the police catch you by using a spotter plane (usually timing you from two designated marks on the highway and then applying a mathematical formula to determine your speed) then the officer in the spotter plane who testifies against you in trial is not prohibited from doing so… Read More »