Wednesday Writs: Illegal Search and Seizure in Wolf v. Colorado

Em Carpenter

Em was one of those argumentative children who was sarcastically encouraged to become a lawyer, so she did. She is a proud life-long West Virginian, and, paradoxically, a liberal. In addition to writing about society, politics and culture, she enjoys cooking, podcasts, reading, and pretending to be a runner. She will correct your grammar. You can find her on Twitter.

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6 Responses

  1. Oscar Gordon says:

    Saw this yesterday, Colorado cop is the subject of a Red Flag order.

    So far, the bulk of states Red Flag laws are hot garbage that fail to respect due process and give police a good excuse to go in guns blazing.Report

    • Slade the Leveller in reply to Oscar Gordon says:

      Like they need excuses.Report

    • The first case where guns were removed under the Colorado red flag law happened today. Backstory: Police responded to a domestic violence call. The wife and her sister said the husband had threatened self-harm with a loaded handgun and left. Police found him at a nearby convenience store. He was seriously intoxicated (staggering). He surrendered the loaded Glock he was carrying, and after returning to the apartment with the police, surrendered a revolver. The man was eventually released and no charges were filed. The officer doing the paperwork filed a request for a red flag hearing.

      At the hearing today, the man and his attorney agreed that the officers had good reason to file the request, and agreed to allow the police should hold the weapons for the maximum 364 days. Carrying a firearm while under the influence is a class 2 misdemeanor in Colorado with a 3-12 month jail sentence.

      The most probable outcome of an eventual hearing in the case you linked to will be the woman filing the request will be charged with lying under oath.Report

      • Oscar Gordon in reply to Michael Cain says:

        Yes, but will she be charged because she lied under oath, or because she did it in regards to a police officer?

        This is the kicker. If the police and DAs and judges are willing to aggressively hold false reporters to account, that’s one thing. But if people can lie* when they submit the paperwork, without any real fear of getting in trouble for it, then at best you have people having to take time out to respond to BS legal action, and at worst you have legalized SWATing.

        *Remember, I’ve been the subject of a TRO where my neighbor lied on the application, and the after hiring a lawyer, etc, the sum total action of the judge was to dismiss the TRO and yell at us for being bad neighbors. $2K+ out the window, plus all the time and worry. My neighbor suffered no charges for lying or whatnot.Report

  2. Oscar Gordon says:

    L5: Yet again, the law is an ass.Report

  3. Al Perdue says:

    Contrary to belief, filing false reports or giving false information is rarely pursued.Report