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Brian Beasley is the Legal Adviser for the High Point Police Department in High Point, North Carolina. In order to justify his exorbitant (not really) salary and keep his officers informed of the latest changes in the law, he writes legal updates from time to time. Brian knows that officers aren’t generally enthusiastic about reading something entitled “Legal Update” so he tries to include some humorous footnotes to encourage them. Since he began writing these updates, officers from other agencies have asked to be added to the mailing list, but Brian decided that creating a blog was by far a more arrogant and geeky option.

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    Miranda Breaks The Language Barrier

    23 Jul

    Posted by Brian Beasley In Legal Update

    To download a PDF file of this update, click here

    What We’ve Got Here…:  Miranda Breaks The Language Barrier

    Legal Question of the Week
    Vol. 3, Number 14
    July 23, 2010

    Brian Beasley
    English Is My Mother Tongue1 and Legal Adviser, HPPD

    “What we’ve got here is . . . (a) failure to communicate.  Some men you just can’t reach.”
    – From “Cool Hand Luke” (1967)

                Chances are, in our diverse melting pot of a country, you have had occasion while carrying out your law enforcement duties to run across some folks that do not count English as their first language.  Sometimes in these circumstances, it can become difficult to communicate with your witness or suspect.  Maybe you attempt to speak with them with the Spanish you’ve picked up from watching “Dora the Explorer” and “Handy Manny.”  Another option is to find another officer who can translate.  Despite your best efforts, you have probably experienced the courtroom battles that ensue when the defense attorney later argues that his client didn’t understand a word you were saying and therefore, any evidence you uncovered should be thrown out.2

                One particular area of concern arises whenever an officer is asking a person with limited command of the English language to give up certain rights, such as asking for consent to search or trying to obtain a Miranda waiver.  How does the court determine whether these rights were understood and voluntarily waived?  The North Carolina Court of Appeals decided two cases this week that dealt with this issue and decided both in favor of the State. Read More

    1. Extra points if you know what this line is referring to…Answer coming later in this update. ↩
    2. I have prosecuted cases where the trial quickly became more about how well the officer spoke Spanish than whether the defendant was guilty or not (which is usually just fine with the defense attorney.)  I have seen officers cross-examined in Spanish, and Spanish interpreters called to testify whether the officer is actually speaking Spanish or is really only spouting jibberish (another language I’m fluent in, by the way).  It’s very hard to know when to object when you don’t understand the question or the answer. ↩
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    Hide and Go Seek: The Plain Feel Doctrine

    09 Jul

    Posted by Brian Beasley In Legal Update

    To download a PDF file of this update, click here

    Hide and Go Seek:  The Plain Feel Doctrine

    Legal Question of the Week
    Vol. 3, Number 13
    July 9, 2010

    Brian Beasley1
    Hidden In A Sea of Humanity and Legal Adviser, HPPD

                I’m sure that everyone while growing up has played games of “Hide and Seek.”2  You probably wouldn’t be surprised to learn that there are several variations of this game found worldwide.3  I’m sure you have also realized that as adults, we continue to play this game when it suits our needs.  At different times, we might hide from our supervisor, hide from the bill collectors, or hide from our spouses and kids.  How interesting that we learned these important life skills playing a game on the playground.

                Criminals today play their own version of Hide and Seek with the police.  They try to find ways, places, containers, and crevices in which to hide their drugs and officers are tasked with finding them.  Fortunately, a law enforcement officer has a valuable tool available to him or her in this struggle – the “plain feel” doctrine. Read More

    1. Hey – remember that time CourtTV did an hour long primetime special at my request so that I could announce whether I was taking this job and signing with the City of High Point or staying at the District Attorney’s office?  Yeah – me neither.  No one would be that arrogant, would they? ↩
    2. I prefer the name “Hide and Seek” to the alternate name of “Hide and Go Seek.”  You might ask why I used the “Hide and Go Seek” variant in the title.  It’s because I liked the meter better.  Remember back in high school English class when you studied the meter of poetry, meaning the number and stress of the syllables used in each line?  No?  Well, I was the guy who paid attention to stuff like that simply because I thought it was fun to say phrases like “iambic pentameter.”  You can tell why I had so many girlfriends back then. ↩
    3. In probably the earliest version, players try to remain hidden the longest and may move to other hiding spots while “it” isn’t looking. ↩
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