NCJ Number
132868
Journal
Arrest Law Bulletin Dated: (August 1991) Pages: complete issue
Editor(s)
E M Quinlan
Date Published
1991
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This bulletin summarizes case law and recent court decisions regarding various aspects of arrest laws.
Abstract
A civil rights case addressed the qualified immunity of law enforcement officers in a dispute between two parties over a property repossession. A case involving a warrantless arrest discussed the issue of the probable cause supplied by an informant's tip which allowed for reasonable apartment surveillance and investigatory stops. In another case, the informant's reliability was questioned. Three decisions focusing on traffic stops discussed the justification needed for extensive questioning, the need to support suspicion by facts, and the justification of a frisk by a passenger's unusual movements. Some of the issues brought up in cases involving investigatory stops included insufficient suspicion of criminal activity, subsequent arrests, eyewitness testimony, and showup identification. Other cases involved a 41-month delay in prosecution, authority to arrest in a misdemeanor, and the nullification of interrogation statements due to a police beating. Probable cause, citizen tips, and corroboration were mentioned in judicial decisions regarding informants. Specific probable cause issues covered in this bulletin included a weapons search, use of photographs in an unrelated crime, circumstantial evidence, and plain view evidence. Two cases raising the question of search incident to arrest involved a weapons search which netted contraband and a search of luggage separated in time and place from the subsequent arrest. The final cases discussed related to parole violations, detention, and extradition.