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The last couple of months I have spent my spare time updating / revising a few law books, including the Illinois Officers Legal Source Book. I have added about 50 cases to the 2011 book! The book is $55 at this website. Any department signing up for my CourtSmart program will get a “hard” copy…

People v Byrd Officers got an anonymous tip that a person in a Chevrolet Cavalier would be doing a drug deal. Later, the officers saw Byrd driving a Chevrolet Cavalier. He stopped when a woman flagged him down. Byrd opened the driver’s door, reached his hand under the car and retrieved a small black box….

A couple of cases (Barnes and Lloyd) appear to stand for the proposition that the person driving is the registered owner. Therefore normally an an officer can stop the vehilce without checking to see who is driving. (Although it would always be best to “check” where possible.) But what if there are two registered owners?…

For those of you who have been in my class over the past year — the Mundelein case was reversed, the court ruling that the passenger / husband was not guilty of obstructing simply by getting out of the car and asking about his wife (even though he did not get back into the car…

This search and seizure seminar is NEMRT sponsored. Sign up at NEMRT.com.

Sign up for my 3-day class on the NEMRT (MTU #3) website. Contact me if you have any questions (DAA2000@aol.com) Best – DA

An officer stopped a car driven by Nash because she had no seatbelt on. Nash said she left her license and insurance card at home — which was about 3 blocks away. The officer soon learned that Nash’s license was suspended, so he impounded the car and discovered drugs under the front seat. The Illinois…

First off, normally officers must have a lawful impound (seizure) to have a lawful inventory. The courts are starting to get tough on the notion that most impounds must have a “community caretaking” rationale. So what does that mean? In the Spencer case, an officer has an arrest warrant for Spencer and sees Spencer driving…

I am presenting a one-day NEMRT-sponsored seminar October 26 at the Arlington Heights Police Department. You can sign up for it on the NEMRT website. It’s free for MTU #3 departments. So if you’re in the area of Arlington Heights and you want to go, be sure to sign up. Best – DA

Illinois courts follow relatively strictly the MENDENHALL test to determine whether or not a suspect is “seized” for 4th Amendment purposes. Of course other factors may be interjected, but the following are the basic: The MENDENHALL test (page 23) 1. Two officers – good; three officers – bad (tends to be seizure) 2. Officer has…

The Illinois Court of Appeals (District 2) refused to re-hear People v Kowalski. The appellate prosecutor has decided not to appeal the case to the Illinois Supreme Court. So we’re kind of stuck with a mildly ambiguous decision. If you will recall, this was the case where an officer searched Kowalski, who was injured in…

Can officers search injured persons before turning them over to emergency personnel? People v Kowalski In this case, Kowalski got hurt in a bar fight. An officer at the scene is transferring Kowalski to emergency personnel. However the emergency people won’t take Kowalski until he is searched. The officer searches Kowalski and discovers crime-related evidence….