Author: Chief Ken Wallentine

KEN WALLENTINE is police chief of the West Jordan (Utah) Police Department and former chief of law enforcement for the Utah attorney general. He has served over three decades in public safety, is a legal expert and editor of Xiphos, a monthly national criminal procedure newsletter. Wallentine is a member of the board of directors of the Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Death and serves as a use of force consultant in state and federal criminal and civil litigation across the nation.

Strip Search Leads to Cocaine Lawfully Retrieved from…

Strip Search Leads to Cocaine Lawfully Retrieved from…

[vc_section css="vc_custom_1525482743015{padding-bottom: 3em !important;}" el_class="container"]Cole v. Commonwealth, (Va. 2017) An officer arrested Abdul Rahman Cole for a warrant. During the inventory of Cole’s car, the officer found an open alcohol container and...

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Your Call: Search, Warrantless Search or No Search?

Your Call: Search, Warrantless Search or No Search?

[vc_section css="vc_custom_1525482743015{padding-bottom: 3em !important;}" el_class="container"]Collins v. Commonwealth, 790 S.E.2d 611 (Va. 2016), cert. granted sub nom Collins v. Virginia, No. 16-1027 (U.S. Sept. 28, 2017) A motorcyclist on an orange and black...

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If the Key Fits, Turn It? Curtilage, Home Locks and Evidence

If the Key Fits, Turn It? Curtilage, Home Locks and Evidence

[vc_section css="vc_custom_1525482743015{padding-bottom: 3em !important;}" el_class="container"]United States v. Bain, (1st Cir. 2017) Yrvens Bain was on probation following a series of drug trafficking convictions and some prison time. Investigators made multiple...

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Cell Phone Records Locate a Real Prince

Cell Phone Records Locate a Real Prince

[vc_section css="vc_custom_1525482743015{padding-bottom: 3em !important;}" el_class="container"]Jones v. United States, (D.C. Ct. App. 2017) Prince Jones, not a real prince of a guy, called two escorts. When they showed up, he forced them to perform sex acts at...

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Does Excited Delirium Create a Legal Duty to De-Escalate?

Does Excited Delirium Create a Legal Duty to De-Escalate?

[vc_section css="vc_custom_1525482743015{padding-bottom: 3em !important;}" el_class="container"]Roell v. Hamilton Board of Commissioners, et al., (6th Cir. 2017) Gary Roell had a serious, chronic mental illness. He quit taking his anti-psychotic medications in June...

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Parolee Did Not Have Expectation of Privacy in Halfway House

Parolee Did Not Have Expectation of Privacy in Halfway House

[vc_section css=".vc_custom_1540328728009{padding-top: 3em !important;padding-bottom: 3em !important;}" el_class="container"][vc_column width="2/3"]United States v. Jackson, 2017 WL 3429837 (8th Cir. 2017) Richard Jackson was convicted of failure to register as a sex...

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Letter to the Judge Backfires and is Admissible in Court

Letter to the Judge Backfires and is Admissible in Court

[vc_section css="vc_custom_1525482743015{padding-bottom: 3em !important;}" el_class="container"]United States v. Bauzó-Santiago, (1st Cir. 2017) Jaime Bauzó-Santiago wrote a letter to the judge presiding over his trial for illegal possession of a firearm. The letter...

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Standard Field Sobriety Tests Cannot Measure Marijuana Impairment

Reasonable Suspicion Leads to Questions About Seizure

[vc_section css="vc_custom_1525482743015{padding-bottom: 3em !important;}" el_class="container"]New Year’s Eve didn’t end well for Louis Roberson. The evening started auspiciously. Roberson met a blind date in the parking lot of Slick Willie’s Pool Hall, and within a...

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