BLOG BULLETS: Justification for a Terry stop doesn’t automatically justify a frisk for weapons during the stop. A frisk for weapons requires its own different justification, namely, a reasonable suspicion that the person stopped is armed. The Ninth Circuit has found the additional intrusion of a frisk unjustified in multiple cases.   NOW THE BLOG: […]

BLOG BULLETS: Most federal agencies have what are sometimes called “Touhy regulations” which require parties seeking testimony of an agency employee to provide a summary of the testimony sought. The government sometimes points to regulations like this to force criminal defendants to provide summaries of the testimony they want to elicit from federal agents they […]

BLOG BULLETS: There’s a recent Ninth Circuit case – United States v. Santos-Flores, 794 F.3d 1088 (9th Cir. 2015) – that confirms holdings in prior district court cases that the possibility – or actuality – of an ICE detainer can’t be used as a ground for denying bail. The Ninth Circuit case also cites one […]

BLOG BULLETS: Remember the new DOJ policy adopted in August 2013 that 21 U.S.C. § 851 enhancements should be sought only if “the defendant is involved in conduct that makes the case appropriate for severe sanctions.” A second memorandum, issued a year later, makes clear that this policy applies regardless of whether the defendant pleads […]

By CINDY CHANG The family of a 23-year-old man who committed suicide in Men’s Central Jail will receive $1.6 million from Los Angeles County to settle a lawsuit alleging that jail officials did not properly diagnose his mental illness. Austin Losorelli, the son of an LAPD lieutenant, told jail mental health workers that he was […]

By MAURA DOLAN Two men wrongfully imprisoned for decades may hold Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives and a deputy liable for failing to disclose evidence that pointed toward their innocence, a federal appeals panel unanimously decided Wednesday. In a decision written by Judge Raymond C. Fisher, a Clinton appointee, the three-judge panel said the law […]

9th Circuit: Failure to disclose evidence leaves LA County open to litigation By L.J. Williamson Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies who are facing lawsuits by men who were wrongly imprisoned for decades are not entitled to qualified immunity, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held Wednesday. Plaintiffs Frank O’Connell and Francisco Carillo Jr. […]

BLOG BULLETS: A recent Ninth Circuit opinion – United States v. Sanchez-Gomez – invalidates a Southern District of California United States Marshal policy of shackling all defendants at most court appearances in five-point restraints. The opinion distinguishes and limits the prior Ninth Circuit opinion in United States v. Howard that allowed some shackling at some […]