Category Archives: Plain view, feel, smell

LA5: Off-duty officer feeling a bag was a search, but bag was abandoned

Defendant left a bag on the counter of a gym and went outside and acted suspicious. An off-duty officer was a customer. He felt the bag, feeling a gun. Then police were called. This qualified as a government search, but … Continue reading

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S.D.Ohio: Casting state court’s failure to follow 4A precedent more closely as a due process violation still Stone barred

2254 petitioner’s due process claim that the state court denied due process by not following precedent was barred by Stone. Allen v. Warden, SE. Corr. Inst., 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 104131 (S.D. Ohio June 2, 2025). Defense counsel wasn’t ineffective … Continue reading

Posted in Ineffective assistance, Issue preclusion, Plain view, feel, smell, Private search, Probable cause | Comments Off on S.D.Ohio: Casting state court’s failure to follow 4A precedent more closely as a due process violation still Stone barred

E.D.Va.: Lack of a recording for SW application in violation of state law didn’t violate 4A

There was no recording of the showing of probable cause for this state warrant that became a part of a federal prosecution. The lack of a recording isn’t fatal to the showing of probable cause found by the issuing magistrate … Continue reading

Posted in Informant hearsay, Neutral and detached magistrate, Plain view, feel, smell, Probable cause, Probation / Parole search | Comments Off on E.D.Va.: Lack of a recording for SW application in violation of state law didn’t violate 4A

CA6: Affidavit about smell of MJ from house was not so bare bones GFE didn’t apply

“Even if the search-warrant affidavit at issue lacked probable cause, the district court did not err in denying Noble’s motion to suppress because the good-faith exception applies. The search-warrant affidavit is not bare bones.” The smell of marijuana coming from … Continue reading

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NY3: Judge who issued SW not barred from handling trial

Defendant’s claim that the judge issuing the search warrant couldn’t preside at the trial was not preserved because there was no objection. It would have failed anyway. People v Coston, 2025 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3046 (3d Dept. May 15, … Continue reading

Posted in Dog sniff, Neutral and detached magistrate, Plain view, feel, smell, Reasonable suspicion, Waiver | Comments Off on NY3: Judge who issued SW not barred from handling trial

TX: Fraudulently renting hotel room denies a REP

Fraudulently renting a hotel room means no reasonable expectation of privacy in it. And, it didn’t matter that the police didn’t learn that until later. Bluntson v. State, 2025 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 297 (May 7, 2025). At the oral … Continue reading

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N.D.Ala.: Lack of a SW signature cured by GFE

“Defendant argues that the warrant is facially deficient because the affidavit lacked a signature, a panel of the Eleventh Circuit has considered and rejected this argument. See United States v. Gordon, 686 F. App’x 702, 704 (11th Cir. 2017) (holding … Continue reading

Posted in § 1983 / Bivens, Forfeiture, Good faith exception, Neutral and detached magistrate, Plain view, feel, smell, Standing | Comments Off on N.D.Ala.: Lack of a SW signature cured by GFE

CA3: Plain feel of apparent drugs supported seizure from def’s pocket

Defendant doesn’t challenge the stop or the frisk, just the seizure of the baggie of drugs that the officer felt in his “watch pocket.” The officer could tell what it was by its feel. Affirmed. United States v. Williams, 2025 … Continue reading

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S.D.N.Y.: 15 months not too long to make cell phone search and review unreasonable

Fifteen months to review a cell phone search “was accomplished in a reasonable amount of time. Although a review period of fifteen months is ‘certainly not brief,’ it was not unreasonably long considering ‘the challenges of searching ESI from electronic … Continue reading

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MO: Administrative subpoena to Planned Parenthood was not unreasonable

The AG’s civil investigative demand to Planned Parenthood wasn’t unreasonable as a subpoena. “To comply with the Fourth Amendment’s reasonableness requirement, a CID, which is an administrative subpoena, must (1) comply with the statute authorizing it, (2) seek information that … Continue reading

Posted in Administrative search, Plain view, feel, smell, Reasonable suspicion, Subpoenas / Nat'l Security Letters, Trespass | Comments Off on MO: Administrative subpoena to Planned Parenthood was not unreasonable

D.Nev.: There’s no 4A claim from officers running the serial number of a gun found in plain view

There is no Fourth Amendment claim for officers running the serial number of a gun after it was lawfully encountered, so no ineffective assistance of counsel. United States v. Hylton, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 71338 (D. Nev. Apr. 14, 2025). … Continue reading

Posted in Plain view, feel, smell, Prison and jail searches, Reasonable expectation of privacy, Standards of review, Strip search | Comments Off on D.Nev.: There’s no 4A claim from officers running the serial number of a gun found in plain view

OH5: Rental property ordinance can be enforced by admin. SWs

The City of Canton, Ohio has safety and sanitary standards for rental property that are reasonable and can be enforced by a Camara search warrant on administrative probable cause. Dep’t of Dev. Servs. for the City of N. Canton Ohio … Continue reading

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S.D.N.Y.: Warrantless criminal investigative cell search was reasonable

Defendant was in pretrial detention arrested three days earlier in a murder-for-hire scheme. Jailors searched his cell, apparently as a part of the original criminal investigation, looking for cell phone which he attempted to destroy. He moved to suppress. “The … Continue reading

Posted in Arrest or entry on arrest, Good faith exception, Plain view, feel, smell, Prison and jail searches | Comments Off on S.D.N.Y.: Warrantless criminal investigative cell search was reasonable

M.D.Ala.: When a car search is based on smell of MJ, it doesn’t matter that none was found

When a search is based on the smell of burnt or fresh marijuana, it doesn’t matter that none was found. United States v. Powell, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70597 (M.D. Ala. Mar. 13, 2025):

Posted in Plain view, feel, smell | Comments Off on M.D.Ala.: When a car search is based on smell of MJ, it doesn’t matter that none was found

MI: Smell of MJ from a vehicle no longer PC

In Michigan, because of legalization of recreational marijuana the smell of marijuana from a vehicle is no longer probable cause to search. People v. Armstrong, 2025 Mich. LEXIS 583 (April 2, 2025). From the court’s syllabus:

Posted in Plain view, feel, smell, Probable cause | Comments Off on MI: Smell of MJ from a vehicle no longer PC

PA: Contents of a closed shoebox wasn’t in plain view

The contents of a closed shoebox were not in plain view. Commonwealth v. Herlth, 2025 PA Super 73, 2025 Pa. Super. LEXIS 138 (Mar. 24, 2025). “In sum, the evidence before the Court shows that the PGPD and the FBI … Continue reading

Posted in Cell phones, Emergency / exigency, Overbreadth, Plain view, feel, smell | Comments Off on PA: Contents of a closed shoebox wasn’t in plain view

N.D.Ga.: The immediately apparent prong of plain view requires PC

The immediately apparent prong of plain view requires probable cause for being apparent. United States v. Brown, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52652 (N.D. Ga. Jan. 30, 2025), adopted, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50975 (N.D. Ga. Mar. 20, 2025). “In this … Continue reading

Posted in Custody, Plain view, feel, smell, Qualified immunity | Comments Off on N.D.Ga.: The immediately apparent prong of plain view requires PC

CA9: 71-day delay for iPhone SW was reasonable where software update was involved

71-day delay in getting search warrant to access defendant’s cell phone was reasonable where the delay was attributed to waiting for a software update for their device because the iPhone was a newer model. United States v. Powell, 2025 U.S. … Continue reading

Posted in Cell phones, Franks doctrine, Informant hearsay, Plain view, feel, smell, Warrant execution | Comments Off on CA9: 71-day delay for iPhone SW was reasonable where software update was involved

S.D.W.Va.: Def’s agreement to let police see his firearm isn’t implied consent to enter his house

Defendant’s agreement to let police see his firearm isn’t implied consent to enter his house. United States v. Arthur, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 51621 (S.D. W. Va. Mar. 20, 2025). Defendant failed to plead standing in his motion to suppress … Continue reading

Posted in Consent, Plain view, feel, smell, Standing | Comments Off on S.D.W.Va.: Def’s agreement to let police see his firearm isn’t implied consent to enter his house

OR: Following def in an unmarked police car is not a seizure, and he voluntarily stopped

Following defendant in an unmarked car was not a seizure. Defendant ultimately voluntarily stopped and talked to the officer. State v. Serini, 2025 Ore. App. LEXIS 446 (Mar. 19, 2025).* When defendant was placed in the patrol car, the officer … Continue reading

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