Two rulings were handed down last week by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals which, according to DA Schuyler Marvin, ‘have the effect of changing state law’.
The law reads that a police officer cannot stop anyone nor make an arrest outside of their jurisdiction except in felony cases, and then it would be a ‘citizens arrest’.
In the two cases, both for misdemeanor DWI, an out of jurisdiction police officer initiated the stop and then waited for the appropriate agency to make the arrest.
In the first case a Greenwood police officer saw a car driving erratically and called a State Trooper on a cell phone. The trooper asked the officer to ‘light them up’ but not to get out of the car. The trooper was on the scene within a minute and made the arrest.
In the second case, a Bossier City Police officer saw a car weaving and initiated a stop near Kingston Road north of the city. A deputy sheriff arrived and made the arrest.
The court said that "It would be difficult for an officer to explain to the family of a motorist killed by a swerve that an out-of-jurisdiction police officer in a police vehicle was powerless to pull him over, even for a quick check.”
Attorney Whit Graves, who represented the first defendant, said "They are authorizing police officers to have misdemeanor arrest powers that the Legislature has refused to give them.” He plans to appeal the ruling.
DA Marvin pointed out that this does not give ordinary citizens the right to stop or arrest anyone other than for a felony, and he discourages it in most cases.
You can read the rulings of the appeal court here:
State vs Stapa
State vs Williams
Thursday, September 2, 2010
14 comments:
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Oh goodness. Police at places like the LSU MED Center that already have a rather expansive view of their jurisdiction will go to town on this
ReplyDeleteJames, police officers on most state university campuses have state commissions.
ReplyDeletePeople are always griping about judges who legislate from the bench, this is a prime case.
ReplyDeleteNo kudos for the DA yet? Proves this site is fueled by and followed only by hypocrites
ReplyDeleteDA Marvin pointed out that this does not give ordinary citizens the right to stop or arrest anyone other than for a felony, and he discourages it in most cases.
ReplyDeleteDoes this mean that I, ordinary Jane Doe with no police training or commission, can arrest someone as long as the crime is a felony? If so, once I arrest the alleged felon, what do I do with him/her? Do I get to yell "Citizen's Arrest"???? Interesting.
"No kudos for the DA yet? Proves this site is fueled by and followed only by hypocrites"
ReplyDeleteKudos for what? He was quoted as stating the obvious, as did Whit Graves. You're not calling for kudos for Whit, just for Schuyler?
"James, police officers on most state university campuses have state commissions."
ReplyDeleteTheir jurisdiction is still limited. It gets to be a heated topic among some DA's. I don;t think it was the intent of the Legislature to give a LSU Medical Center policeman the same jurisdiction as the State police
Kudos for doing his job well? For securing convictions on drunks who would otherwise skate and continue to endanger us? For doing this by arguing to the courts that a professional trained to detect drunk drivers Should be able to stop them rather than hope that jurisdiction can get an officer there before a wreck? Kudos for making the courts recognize that sometimes a persons right to privacy doesn't entitle them to endanger others? Kudos for doing all this? "he was quoted for stating the obvious"?? Huh? He just changed the LA courts established views. It's easy to say that's obvious in hindsight
ReplyDeleteOkay, kudos to Schuyler for doing his job well in the appeals court. The District Attorney did would he should have done.
ReplyDeleteI agree with him 100% that this has the effect of changing the law. I don't believe that courts should legislate.
Do you?
So you just think they should have let these drunks go on their merry way?
ReplyDeleteNot at all. I believe the officers did what they should have done - they just weren't supported by the law in doing it. I think it is something that the legislature should address.
ReplyDeleteWho cares about this blog post-
ReplyDeletebig deal -
I think what he means Jim, is that Marvin didn't have to appeal those two cases. He could have easily just accepted the two district judges decisions. but he didn't, he appealed it to the appeals court, who reversed the cases. shouldn't my DA get credit for that? I guess not from you. I am not surprised.
ReplyDelete"Okay, kudos to Schuyler for doing his job well in the appeals court."
ReplyDeleteWhat the heck do you call that?