Monthly Archives: September 2017

Even if Carpenter goes in favor of the privacy interest, it has no effect on CSLI searches that occurred before. A bench warrant that showed up for defendant’s arrest justified a search incident of his person. There was also probable … Continue reading →

Defendant’s vehicle was impounded because he was arrested for DUI at a gas pump. In the inventory, the officer saw parts (but not all) of an apparent methamphetamine lab. Also in the car was a sealed box received in the … Continue reading →

NYTimes: Witness Warrants Were Misused in Queens and Elsewhere, Court Papers Say by Alan Feurer:

The officer here was driving around running LPNs, and defendant’s came back from BMV as “expired” even though that day was the last day of the registration, October 15, 2015. He stopped defendant, and several warrants surfaced on defendant. The … Continue reading →

Officer’s “sucker-punch” of store clerk then beating him for no apparent reason for two minutes justified his conviction for violating the store clerk’s Fourth Amendment rights. United States v. Brown, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 17403 (7th Cir. Sept. 8, 2017):

911 call of people inside a neighbor’s home with flashlights was at least reasonable suspicion of a burglary in process to justify a warrantless entry. State v. Head, 2017-Ohio-7473, 2017 Ohio App. LEXIS 3787 (5th Dist. Sept. 6, 2017). The … Continue reading →

A Charles and the public safety exception, a person stopped can be asked whether he’s armed. Here, defendant wasn’t in custody when he admitted he had a gun, and the question was valid anyway. United States v. Esparza, 2017 U.S. … Continue reading →

Two vials of defendant’s blood were drawn under implied consent. He was told the second would be kept for him, but it was separately tested for drugs. The second warrantless search of the blood violated the Fourth Amendment. People v. … Continue reading →

The state failed to show that the inventory of defendant’s car was undertaken in accord with police inventory policy. Under California law, the impoundment itself must be justified. People v. Wallace, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 775 (1st Dist. Sept. 7, … Continue reading →

Defendant claimed standing as an overnight guest, but nothing in the evidence supported that. He has the burden and he failed to show anything. Even if the court assumes he was there overnight, he didn’t show he was an “overnight … Continue reading →

The statute of limitations for a Fourth Amendment claim under § 1983 starts from the time of the search and seizure. Even if tolling were to apply here while plaintiff challenged his conviction, the case was filed way too late. … Continue reading →

Police responded to a loose horse on the highway, and, once it was under control it was taken back to defendant’s property, and that justified entry into the curtilage. People v. Williams, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 777 (2d Dist. Sept. … Continue reading →

The Economist: What machines can tell from your face  Life in the age of facial recognition

Library of Law and Liberty: The Legislative History of the Fourth Amendment: Unreasonable Searches and General Warrants by Mike Rappaport:

Just because the state court is alleged to be wrong and applied the wrong standard, that doesn’t make the defendant was denied a full and fair opportunity to litigate in state court under Stone v. Powell. Sheffield v. Sec’y, Dep’t … Continue reading →

Prop 47 that retroactively reduced some felonies to misdemeanors does not mean that DNA reasonably collected back when it was a felony was unreasonably seized at the time and didn’t retroactively become unreasonable. People v. Harris, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS … Continue reading →

The stop made for a traffic offense lawfully led to the seizure of defendant’s vehicle registration. State v. Corbin, 2017 W. Va. LEXIS 651 (Sept. 5, 2017)* (memorandum). The parties base the motion to suppress solely on the police reports, … Continue reading →

Police withholding exculpatory information found in a search warrant from the DA that fully undermines the probable cause for a charge states a malicious prosecution claim. A grand jury indictment based on the faulty information doesn’t immunize the officer. Braswell … Continue reading →

Lawfare: iOS 11 May Complicate Border Searches by Nicholas Weaver: The upcoming iOS 11 makes further changes in order to protect users’ phones, tablets, and iPods from unauthorized access. Phones, however, cannot reliably distinguish between law enforcement, thieves, and hostile … Continue reading →

lawfare: Reengineering Surveillance Oversight by Siobhan Gorman: This piece is part of a series on Tim Edgar’s new book, “Beyond Snowden.”  One of the most important revelations following the disclosures by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden was the … Continue reading →