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LA5: Seeing butt of gun by flashlight justified seizing it when defendant ran from car

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The search of defendant’s car for a weapon was justified by seeing the butt of the gun with a flashlight. Defendant’s car was stopped in a high-crime area, and a woman was leaning in the window, and that led the officer to conclude a hand-to-hand drug deal was happening. Defendant fled the vehicle when the officer approached. His handcuffing when he was caught was for safety reasons. He was a felon. State v. Williams, 2010 La. App. LEXIS 1073 (La.App. 5th Cir. July 27, 2010).* Defense counsel filed an Anders brief after defendant’s plea, and he raised his search issue pro se, which was held waived by the guilty plea. State v. Turner, 2010 La. App. LEXIS 1071 (La.App. 5th Cir. July 27, 2010).* In a civil rights/false arrest case, the officer had probable cause, or at least qualified immunity, for plaintiff’s arrest as a felon in possession without having to further investigate the status of the conviction which he was told on a records check...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on July 31, 2010 (boomark / email).