34
A lawsuit would be unsuccessful. Prosecutors have discretion to prioritize whichever offenses they think are most important, and they are generally immune from civil liability.
This is a political grievance, and it comes with a political remedy; voters can recall the DA or vote for a new one when his term ends.
26
Mere ideas are not, as others have said, protected by copyright. However, the police officer in such a situation may have a duty of confidentiality, particularly if s/he is informed that the contents of the phone are confidential.
For example the "Officer's Code of Conduct" of Canton Ohio, says:
Whatever a Police Officer sees, hears or learns of ...
14
Be careful: from the Wikipedia article, it appears that there is a state criminal trial and there will be a federal criminal trial. In addition, there is a federal civil suit which incorporates some stats law claims. The defense in each trial may be different.
Have you read the complaint in the civil case? As an example, count 1 alleges, in paragraph 214, ...
12
The Meme is Incorrect
Law enforcement in the united-states may disturb or dig up plants that are listed as endangered species while unearthing evidence of a serious crime.
16 U.S. Code § 1538 subsection (a) ,(2) provides that:
(2) Except as provided in sections 1535(g)(2) and 1539 of this title, with respect to any endangered species of plants listed ...
10
Almost every crime has a civil counterpart for the victim to sue for a judgement, and certainly any private property or personal violence related crime does. Victims of crimes can sue the perpetrator on their own if they have the resources to do so. As a practical reality, suing a homeless person to get back damages is a waste of money since the defendant ...
9
can I sue them for stealing my idea?
england-and-wales
The case of Oxford v Moss 1979 established that information, in and of itself, cannot be stolen. So, in answer to the question posed: No
However, a civil claim may be appropriate if the officer has been found guilty of either a criminal offence, such as s.1 of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 or of (gross-)...
8
(US)
"I know is it illegal for authorities to question a suspect when their lawyer isn’t present"
This is not really true, at least in the US. The suspect must explicitly ask for a lawyer. Even saying "Maybe I should talk to a lawyer" (ie Davis v. U.S. (512 U.S. 453 (1994)) isn't enough, they have to say "I want a lawyer". ...
6
The answer to your direct question is that you are mixing things up: a state law like a Citizen's Arrest statute would only be a valid defense in a state trial. A federal trial would require a federal law that allowed for some exception. Because the trial that is beginning now is a state trial taking place in Glynn County Superior Court, the defendants can ...
6
Your ideas for startups or inventions might qualify as trade secrets. Trade secret law is not uniform internationally so this might or might not help you. But it is very uniform within the US.
5
When the LEO violently assaulted the citizen on the easement is he out of his jurisdiction?
No. Federal law enforcement officers' jurisdiction generally* includes the entire US. Federal and state jurisdiction are said to be concurrent with one another. If the federal law enforcement officer has a lawful basis to effect an arrest, the arrest can be ...
4
If you have a password protected phone, these ideas probably mostly qualify as trade secrets. A law enforcement officer using trade secrets obtained for a limited purpose in furtherance of investigating a potential crime who used the trade secrets without permission would likely be guilty of theft of trade secrets because the personal use would exceed the ...
4
united-kingdom
Under the Borders, Citizenship, and Immigration Act 2009, ss 14 et seq, the wrongful disclosure of information gained by a customs officer in their search is a criminal offence. Thus, the misuse of your information (ie, your ideas) would not be lawful.
However, the problem is that UK Border Force Officers wear two hats: they are both customs ...
4
From my open-source research it seems that law enforcement did not use any coercive powers, such as a subpoena or warrant, in the following case but "covertly" uploaded a suspect's DNA profile in order to identify familial matches for further investigation. So it does show that (in California at least) evidence may be recovered from privately run ...
3
Generally, no
Police cannot enter private property subject to a number of exemptions:
they have a search warrant, or
when in close pursuit of someone the police believe has committed, or attempted to commit, a serious crime, or
to sort out a disturbance, or
if they hear cries for help or of distress, or
to enforce an arrest warrant, or
if invited in freely ...
3
The bright line depends on perspective. In Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386 the court held that
The "reasonableness" of a particular use of force must be judged from
the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, and its calculus
must embody an allowance for the fact that police officers are often
forced to make split-second decisions about ...
3
united-states
First of all, I would not say that any police organization "rules over": any area, unless serious corruption is being implied. The usual term is "has jurisdiction" meaning that they may enforce the law, make arrests, and generally act as police.
The rules are going to vary by state, and not all states even have all of these ...
3
In england-and-wales all wild plants are legally protected to varing degrees by section 13 the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Those plants listed in Schedule 8 are protected by s.13(1)(a) and all others by s.13(1)(b)
s.13(1) [ ... ] if any person—
(a) intentionally picks, uproots or destroys any wild plant included
in Schedule 8; or
(b) not being an ...
3
It may depend on what offences are suspected of being committed.
One example is: In the united-states under 18 U.S. Code § 2258A an Electronic Service Provider (ESP) is required to report apparent violations of sections:
2251 [Sexual exploitation of children]
2251A [Selling or buying of children]
2252 [material involving the sexual exploitation of minors]
...
2
In the United States, if someone who has requested a lawyer is questioned by police despite their desire not to do so, in violation of their Miranda rights under the 6th Amendment, this is a "civil rights violation".
There are several remedies for this civil rights violation.
It can trigger the exclusionary rule to exclude any statement obtained in ...
2
In the United States, at least, there isn't a special term to capture this.
If the suspect has requested a lawyer, but the police continue questioning, you could call that a "Miranda violation," but tthat phrase could also refer to several other actions, such as failing to notify the suspect of his Miranda rights, or questioning him when he has not ...
2
No such obligation exists, at least at the federal level. See DeShaney v Winnebago or Town of Castle Rock v Gonzales. SCOTUS has repeatedly ruled that law enforcement officers are under no legal obligation to prevent a crime in progress, merely that they have the power to intervene if they so choose. Obviously as a society we expect police officers to, you ...
2
The federal precedential case on using deadly force against a fleeing suspect is Tennessee v. Garner:
The use of deadly force to prevent the escape of all felony suspects, whatever the circumstances, is constitutionally unreasonable. It is not better that all felony suspects die than that they escape. Where the suspect poses no immediate threat to the ...
2
england-and-wales only
Do the police have the capacity to compel an arrestee to not make a phone call, either with or without taking physical possession of the phone?
Short Answer: At the time of arrest - yes
Does the arrestee have the right to inform a third party of the arrest prior to complying with such a compulsion?
Short Answer: No
Long Answer:
...
1
What tools do they have at their disposal to work on the case?
There's more to investigating an attempted murder than just doing a cell-tower dump and reviewing communications data.
Analysis of information from the victim and witnesses can sometimes result with what some refer to as a jigsaw identification (briefly touched upon here).
As well as the suspect'...
1
Very few
I'm sorry to hear of your situation but it's a better than even money chance that the perpetrator will never be caught.
You say this happened "in a big city, on the East Coast of the United States". Well, New York City is one of those so I'll use their stats for illustration.
I am also unclear what you mean by "almost stabbed to death&...
1
Depending on the jurisdiction, Google (and other search providers) may be legally compelled to cooperate with the local law enforcement and/or intelligence agencies.
The level of access the agencies get may differ from "we will only give you that specific info if you show us search warrant from the court" to having dedicated console access where ...
1
united-statescopyright
Ideas are not copyrightable
In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work.
17 USC 102
Copyright only is ...
1
england-and-wales
I know it is illegal for authorities to question a suspect when their lawyer isn’t present.
This is not really true, at least in England and Wales.
The right to free and independent legal advice (FILA) is defined by s.58 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE), but it is not an absolute right. It may be delayed - but not totally ...
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