What is a Seizure?
The Fourth Amendment protects persons and property from unreasonable seizures. Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 585 (1980). In its civil rights practice, Kennedy & Oliver represents people who are wrongfully detained, wrongfully arrested, suffer excessive force, suffer sexual assault and suffer the loss or destruction of property at the hands of government officials. The United States Constitution protects our bodies from loss of liberty and injury and our property from damage and destruction when illegal government action causes the injury or loss. The legal source for the constituional protection from personal injury and property damage comes mainly from the prohibition of unreasonable seizures as stated in the Fourth Amenmdment to the United States Constitution.
A person is seized when a reasonable person in like circumstances would not feel free to leave. United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 554-55 (1980). Generally, an officer must use his authority to detain a citizen physically or order a person to remain before a court will decide that law enforcement has seized a person. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 16, 19 n.6 (1968). Retention of personal documents, usually means the police are "seizing" the person. Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 501-02 (1983).
A seizure must be intentional. Brower v. County of Inyo, 489 U.S. 593 (1989). In other words, the police officer must intend to terminate a person's freedom of movement. Id. (finding that use of roadblock was an intentional seizure of person).
Police use of force constitutes a seizure under the Fourth Amendment. Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386 (1989). "All claims that law enforcement officers have used excessive force - deadly or not - in the course of an arrest, investigatory stop, or other 'seizure' of a free citizen should be analyzed under the Fourth Amendment and its 'reasonableness' standard." Vathekan v. Prince George's County, 154 F.3d 173, 178 (4th Cir. 1998), citing Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 395 (1989). "This includes attacks by police dogs improperly deployed by their handlers." Id., citing, Kopf v. Wing, 942 F.2d 265 (4th Cir. 1991). "An attack by an unreasonably deployed police dog in the course of a seizure is a Fourth Amendment excessive force violation." Id.
A property seizure is a "meaningful interference" with an individual's property. Soldal v. Cook County, Ill., 506 U.S. 56 (1992)(unlawful taking of a mobile home). A government seizure of property, even if no search takes place, is scrutinized under the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Paige, 136 F.3d 1012, 1017 (5th CIr. 1998). Destruction of property is a "seizure". Bonds v. Cox, 20 F.3d 697 (6th Cir. 1994). Taking animals from a person's property is a seizure and may only be done, absent exigent circumstances, pursuant to a warrant. Di Cesare v. Stuart, 12 F.3d 973 (10th Cir. 1993).
In future tutorials, we will review such issues as when a detetnion becomes an arrest, what constitutes reasonable use of force and when a warrant is necessary to arrest and seize property.
what constitutes an illegal search? what rights does a person have when pulled over by the cops and then asked for registation before given a chance to comply one is removed from the vehicle and the vehicle is then searched. but defense does one have to this is this a direct violation of the 4th ammendment