Case Summaries: Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (December 2024)

This post summarizes published criminal law cases released by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals during December 2024. Cases of potential interest to state practitioners are summarized monthly. Previous summaries of Fourth Circuit cases are available here. Officer reasonably believed evidence relating to the crime of arrest would be found within the car; Gant’s ‘reasonable to believe’ standard requires less than probable cause; motion to suppress properly denied U.S. v. Turner, 122 F.4th 511 (Dec. 4, 2024). The defendant’s brother came home one evening and noticed his gun was missing. The gun was normally kept in a locked box in the man’s bedroom. He called the police to report the theft and informed them that his brother (the defendant) was the only person with knowledge of and access to the weapon. The man also told police that his brother was involved in a gang and that this gang was feuding with another local gang. The responding officer obtained a state court warrant for the defendant’s arrest for the theft. The officer also discovered that the defendant was a convicted felon. The next night, the officer received a report that the defendant had carjacked someone using the same type of gun as the one taken. While the officer was trying to obtain a warrant for the carjacking incident, the victim called the officer to report that the car had been returned. The state magistrate refused to issue an arrest warrant for this incident. Around 27 hours later, the same officer received a [...]