Category Archives: Abandonment

D.C.Cir.: The sealing of SW for def’s Facebook account has no bearing on reversibility of the conviction; release pending appeal denied

Release pending appeal denied. “Fourth, Ballenger has not shown that her arguments regarding the sealing of documents obtained under the search warrant for her Facebook account present a substantial question as to, or had any material impact on, the validity … Continue reading

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D.P.R.: Alleged false GJ testimony as an alleged 4A violation rejected as new Bivens ground

“Plaintiff grounds his Bivens cause of action in an allegation that Garay, a CBP officer, violated his Fourth Amendment rights by procuring his indictment based on supposedly intentional false testimony in which Garay stated that Plaintiff knowingly possessed and transported … Continue reading

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N.D.Ga.: Assuming without deciding standing to challenge a college email account, there was PC for the email warrant

Defendant sent threatening emails through his Georgia Tech account. He also sent private emails with tax and property information. He raised a Franks challenge, too. Assuming without deciding he has standing to challenge the email search, there was probable cause … Continue reading

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CA10: AOL scanned emails for CP, found some, and forwarded to NCMEC; what NCMEC did did not matter and that’s inevitable discovery

“We conclude that the inevitable discovery exception to exclusion applies, and therefore we need not address whether NCMEC violated the Fourth Amendment by opening Tolbert’s emails and attachments or whether the good faith exception to exclusion would apply. The evidence … Continue reading

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D.Minn.: Terry stop with guns drawn was reasonable here

An otherwise lawful Terry stop wasn’t made unreasonable because officers, fearing a weapon, approached with guns drawn. United States v. Thomas, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 234913 (D. Minn. Dec. 13, 2023), adopted 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21178 (D. Minn. Feb. … Continue reading

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NC: SW for documents permitted officers to leaf though def’s rehab journal

Officers had a warrant that included documents. An officer leafed through defendants drug abuse/recovery journal looking for things within the warrant without really reading it. He came upon evidence of another crime. A second warrant was obtained for the journal. … Continue reading

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E.D.Mich.: Typo in affidavit for SW doesn’t support Franks challenge

Defendant’s Franks challenge fails. “At the hearing, Hill presented nothing to establish that this inconsistency was anything other than a negligent typographical error. While he maintained that the affidavits were riddled with falsehoods, he was unable—despite repeated questioning—to pinpoint any … Continue reading

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OH10: Handing backpack to friend to hold was not abandonment

“However, abandonment for Fourth Amendment purposes differs from abandonment in terms of property law. ‘In the context of search and seizure law, abandonment refers to a manifestation or appearance that the person has no interest in the property, rather than … Continue reading

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MO: Male passenger couldn’t consent to search of female passenger’s purse

Defendant was a passenger in a car, and the police ordered the occupants out. She left her purse inside, and another male passenger consented to search of the interior. His consent did not include her purse. The state’s argument she … Continue reading

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E.D.N.C.: Even if search preceded arrival of SW, independent source applied

Even if the search preceded the warrant being issued, the decision was already made and the independent source doctrine validates the search. United States v. Ellis, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 202209 (E.D.N.C. Oct. 20, 2023), adopted, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading

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PA: Car and phone were abandoned after police chase

Defendant was allegedly driving his car, fled a police stop and crashed into another car. He fled and abandoned the car leaving his cell phone inside. He reported it stolen the next morning, but that proved to be false. The … Continue reading

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IA: A drug pipe in def’s possession doesn’t help show PC for DWI (but other evidence did)

“But while the drug pipe in the passenger’s pocket does not lend support for probable cause that Roe was operating while intoxicated, excluding this evidence from consideration is not fatal to the warrant as Roe’s other arguments on the lack … Continue reading

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PA: Fleeing a traffic stop and wrecking car and then running off was abandonment of the car

Defendant fled in his car from a traffic stop and wrecked a few blocks away. He abandoned the car at the scene by running off. Commonwealth v. Hall, 2023 PA Super 224, 2023 Pa. Super. LEXIS 513 (Nov. 3, 2023). … Continue reading

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TX5: A safe removed from a car under the automobile exception was subject to search without a warrant

A safe removed from a car that was otherwise subject to search under the automobile exception was still subject to a warrantless search after it was removed and taken to the police station. Defendant’s effort to compare it to a … Continue reading

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W.D.Mo.: SCA allows state courts to issue out-of-state SWs for ESI

The Stored Communications Act permits state courts to issue search warrants for out-of-state electronically stored information. [In addition, but not discussed, Virginia v. Moore allows federal courts to overlook state law violations as long as everything reasonableness was satisfied. Because … Continue reading

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D.Conn.: State constitutional argument has no basis in federal prosecution

In a federal case, defendant’s argument the state Constitution was violated in his search means nothing in a federal criminal prosecution. The search was valid under the Fourth Amendment’s collective knowledge doctrine, and it was properly limited in scope. United … Continue reading

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MS: Never getting ruling on motion to suppress is waiver

A motion to suppress where defendant never seeks a ruling on it is waived. McCollum v. State, 2023 Miss. LEXIS 238 (Sep. 7, 2023). The state search warrant application showed probable cause for a warrant for defendant’s devices for internet … Continue reading

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CA5: Riley does not apply to border searches of cell phones

The search of defendant’s cell phone at the border was reasonable. The court will not apply Riley to border searches. Malik v. United States Dep’t of Homeland Sec., 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 21307 (5th Cir. Aug. 15, 2023). “The undersigned … Continue reading

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CA11: Lawyers were arrested for interfering with cell phone search

In a CPS-type case, there was a search warrant for two cell phones with alleged child pornography on them, and officers were going to execute them outside a hearing in the courthouse. Watching on surveillance video, officers saw the phones’ … Continue reading

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CA3: Saying “this is not my backpack” when shown it during traffic stop is abandonment

“Small abandoned his legitimate expectation of privacy in the backpack. Although Small arguably demonstrated a subjective expectation of privacy by attempting to hide the backpack under his seat (though this act could also be viewed as an effort to physically … Continue reading

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