Remember the video from about 8 months ago where the cop in Frankfort, Kentucky, barged into a woman’s home without a warrant and illegally arrested her while she was wearing only a towel? She correctly tells (former) Officer Larry “Gus” Curtis that he can’t do that – that what he was doing was illegal, due to the fact that he was acting without a warrant. Curtis tells her, “if it’s illegal, then file a civil lawsuit.” Well, she did file a civil lawsuit and it just settled. Was it enough?
What was supposed to be a joyous Christmas celebration turned into a nightmare for Jennifer Heath Box, when Broward County, Florida, sheriff’s deputies arrested her and threw her in jail for three days—all because they refused to check their paperwork to make sure they had the right person. Because of indifference of police and jail personnel, Jennifer missed Christmas with her family and, most importantly, missed seeing her son before he deployed overseas with the United States Marines. Fortunately, the Institute for Justice is on the case…
In Sharp County, Arkansas, Sheriff Shane Russell showed up at a family’s front door, following allegations from a neighbor that they had been revving their engines earlier (on their own property). Sheriff Russell, flanked by other police officers, did not have a warrant. But he didn’t let that stop him.
This footage was circulating on X/Twitter, showing police in Longview, Texas arresting this guy just inside the front door of his home. The incident began as a traffic stop for speeding 10 mph over. The stop took place in the driveway of the home. The driver proceeds to be extremely aggressive towards the obviously-rookie officer. After a backup officer arrived, the young officer issues the citation for speeding. Then the man goes to walk inside the house, but the backup officer follows him and an arrest was made.
So it looks like there was an outstanding warrant from 2014 for “ISSUING CERTIFICATE TO VEHICLE MISSING OR WITH NON-COMPLIANT INSPECTION ITEM” that was “executed” on the same date as the body cam recording. According to Gregg County, Texas court records, Trenton Futrell “did not show up” to the May 9, 2024 docket call / court date for that citation, resulting in a $273.00 fine (if I’m reading this correctly).
Then, after the court date on the warrant that Trenton was arrested for on April 18, 2024 (the bodycam incident), they charged him by complaint/information on May 16, 2024 with “RESIST ARREST SEARCH OR TRANSPORT” – presumably for what had occurred during the April 18 incident (though I don’t know for sure without reviewing the charging document). It appears that charge is still pending.
Here’s the text of the Texas statute he’s accused of violating:
Sec. 38.03. RESISTING ARREST, SEARCH, OR TRANSPORTATION. (a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally prevents or obstructs a person he knows is a peace officer or a person acting in a peace officer's presence and at his direction from effecting an arrest, search, or transportation of the actor or another by using force against the peace officer or another.(b) It is no defense to prosecution under this section that the arrest or search was unlawful.(c) Except as provided in Subsection (d), an offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.(d) An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree if the actor uses a deadly weapon to resist the arrest or search.
Remember the video I did on the Broken Arrow Police Department, where the officer really hated this guy Richard, and schemed over a way to take Richard to jail, even though he was safely inside his own home? Well here’s an update, and it involves numerous police officers who no longer have a job.
This shocking footage was released by the Broken Arrow Police Department via their Facebook page. It shows the bodycam video of a police officer who “hates” a citizen named Richard. He really wants to arrest Richard, but all he has on him is a sketchy allegation of a parking violation. Does he just issue a citation and mail it to him, or go get an arrest warrant? No, he busts into Richard’s house illegally and violently arrests him inside his home. This is crazy footage showing one of the worst false arrests I’ve ever seen.
Here’s a screenshot of the Facebook post:
The comments are sort of hilarious though. Apparently everyone hates Richard – especially his neighbors, and they’re willing to overlook the concept of constitutional rights, just to keep Richard in jail for a little while longer.
This footage was submitted from Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, showing the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office knocking on a man’s door and then kicking his tiny dog shortly afterwards, after the dog apparently attempted to urinate on the cop’s leg. The officers knocked on the man’s door while investigating him for allegedly causing damage to a police cruiser. Without obtaining a warrant first, the officers ended up arresting the man.
As I’ve explained numerous times, according to the 1980 Supreme Court opinion in Payton v. New York, in order to legally arrest someone in a home, rather than in a public place, absent consent or exigent circumstances, police officers must have a warrant. But what about kicking the homeowner’s dog? Or shooting the dog?
As an initial matter, it is well-settled that privately owned dogs are “effects” under the Fourth Amendment, and that the shooting and killing of such a dog constitutes a “seizure.” So it’s a different legal standard that standard police shooting cases. It’s an overall reasonableness standard, recognizing that police can shoot dogs where officer safety justifies the decision.
The question is whether, at the time the officer shot the dog, he held a reasonable belief that the dog posed a threat to himself or others. If the facts are sufficient to show that such a belief was unreasonable, then the law is clearly established in most circuits that shooting a dog under those circumstances would constitute an unreasonable seizure of property under the Fourth Amendment. That’s not a great way of looking at the value of our dogs, but that’s the actual legal analysis.
Video surfaced from Andalusia, Alabama, showing a police officer entering a woman’s home to arrest her, while her 18 year old son filmed the incident. The footage was subsequently released by the woman’s attorneys, who accused the officer of race-related retaliation. The footage then went viral, prompting the mayor of the town to make a public statement. He apologized, stating that the officer was disciplined for not knowing the law.
Subject to only two exceptions, police officers cannot enter your home and arrest you without a warrant. The exceptions are consent and exigent circumstances. But where an arrest is initiated outside the home, can the officer then follow the person inside the home to complete the arrest?
Ring doorbell video surfaced showing the arrest of a man at his own front door, after he refused to provide identification to police officers in Clayton County, Georgia. The footage showed officers arresting the man without a warrant. After the footage went viral, the police department then made their own Youtube video responding to the footage, as well as the allegations. But the issue remains: can cops constitutionally arrest a homeowner at his own front door without a warrant?
The Fourth Amendment guarantees the “right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.” The constitutional protection of people in their houses extends to the “curtilage” of the home, which is “the area ‘immediately surrounding and associated with the home.'” Collins v. Virginia, 138 S. Ct. 1663, 1670 (2018) (quoting Florida v. Jardines, 569 U.S. 1, 6 (2013)).
Subject to a few exceptions, the Fourth Amendment prohibits law enforcement from entering a home or its curtilage to conduct a search without a warrant. United States v. Walker, 799 F.3d 1361, 1363 (11th Cir. 2015). United States v. Stephen, No. 19-12172 (11th Cir. Aug 06, 2020)
Police officers arrived at a gym on a noise complaint. The gym owner expressed his displeasure at the officers’ presence. As they started to detain him, he went back into his gym and told the officers they could not enter. But they did enter and tased him and took him to the ground, and arrested him. Here’s the issue. The Fourth Amendment does not allow police to go inside your home and arrest you without a warrant. But what about your business? Did they need a warrant under the Fourth Amendment to arrest this gym owner?
