Monthly Archives: May 2018

TN: Entry onto curtilage for trash pull violated 4A

Officers violated the curtilage by entering defendant’s property to do a trash pull. Removing that information from the affidavit for the search warrant leaves it without probable cause. The CI information that started the investigation alone isn’t enough to show … Continue reading

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KY: The objective evidence showed voluntary consent on totality; trial court erred in finding no consent

Defendant had a head injury and couldn’t remember the accident. Still, she was lucid when the officer talked to her, and she objectively consented on the objective facts. Her subjective belief wasn’t important. The trial court clearly erred in finding … Continue reading

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KS: Car search had PC, so trial court erred in suppressing

The trial court erred in suppressing the search of the car. There was probable cause for a search for drugs, and that allowed the officer to search anywhere drugs would be found. State v. Knight, 2018 Kan. App. LEXIS 28 … Continue reading

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The Atlantic: The Coming Wave of Murders Solved by Genealogy

The Atlantic: The Coming Wave of Murders Solved by Genealogy by Sarah Zhang: The same DNA analysis used to find the alleged Golden State Killer has led to the arrest of a second alleged murderer. It’ll likely lead to more.

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NYTimes: Technique Used to Find Golden State Killer Leads to a Suspect in 1987 Murders

NYTimes: Technique Used to Find Golden State Killer Leads to a Suspect in 1987 Murders by Heather Murphy:

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NE: Stopping car leaving house under surveillance for which SW was sought was reasonable just to gather information

Defendant’s car was leaving a house under surveillance as a place where a gun safe was known to have been taken after a burglary to break it open. A search warrant was being sought. The stop was a seizure, but … Continue reading

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KS: Parole search waiver permitted suspicionless home searches

Defendant’s parole search waiver permitted suspicionless searches of his home, despite the fact the statute didn’t specifically mention it. The court balances the state’s need with the intrusion on privacy, and there is a continuum of much lower privacy expectations … Continue reading

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PA: Consent to blood draw preceded any alleged Birchfield violation, so no suppression

“Here, Moser gave his consent to the blood test while he was in the patrol car on the way to the hospital. … Officers read form DL-26 to Moser at the hospital, after he had already consented to the blood … Continue reading

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E.D.Ky.: The fact the regular CI was also a drug addict didn’t make him unreliable or unbelievable [on a pretrial release application]

“The Court does not find this argument persuasive. Cooperation with law enforcement suggests reliability of Mr. Brown’s statements. See, e.g., United States v. Pinson, 321 F.3d 558 (6th Cir. 2003) (upholding search warrant predicated on information from a confidential informant … Continue reading

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AZ: By not stopping until he got to driveway, def impliedly consented to officer following there

Defendant had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his girlfriend’s driveway because he was a frequent overnight guest there, and he was coming there to spend the night. (There is a discussion of the semi-private nature of a driveway under … Continue reading

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CA3: Failure to pay bench warrant justified arrest even if state law permitted pay off in lieu of arrest

There was, in fact, a bench warrant for plaintiff for FTA for failure to pay. The fact state law optionally permitted a pay off in lieu of arrest doesn’t make the arrest violate the Fourth Amendment because there was a … Continue reading

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WV: Search of def on the premises of a place searched by SW was unreasonable without a showing of his nexus; merely being there isn’t nexus

Search of defendant found on the premises of a search of another person’s property was unreasonable because there was no shown nexus to him and the crime under suspicion. Even the occupants of the property weren’t named in the search … Continue reading

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NC: On remand from Grady, realtime satellite based monitoring of a sex offender on release was unreasonable under 4A

On remand from Grady v. North Carolina, 135 S. Ct. 1368, 191 L. Ed. 2d 459 (2015), the state failed to prove that continuous realtime satellite based monitoring of defendant was unreasonable. The lack of a warrant requirement without any … Continue reading

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N.D.Tex.: PV of short-barreled rifle and silencer was valid; incriminating nature immediately apparent

The incriminating nature of a short-barreled rifle and a homemade suppressor was immediately apparent for plain view purposes. United States v. Tidrow, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81807 (N.D. Tex. May 15, 2018). “Prior to the stop of the vehicle, law … Continue reading

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N.D.Ill.: No constitutional requirement that police car recording equipment be used

“Defendant objects to the magistrate judge’s probable cause determination asserting that ‘defendant believes’ that where a police car is equipped with video recording equipment the officer should be required to use it and that his testimony alone should not be … Continue reading

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NC: Knock-and-talk at side door was unreasonable; the fact def’s friends and occasional buyers went to that door and not obvious front door isn’t an excuse

The police did a knock-and-talk and went to a side door. A knock-and-talk is limited to the door the public goes to. The fact an occasional visitor defendant knew well was permitted to go to another door doesn’t give the … Continue reading

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E.D.Mich.: Def’s disclaiming ownership of cell phone when seized is a lack of standing, even when he claimed it after it rang

Defendant had no standing to challenge a search of a cell phone found in his car that he said belonged to his girlfriend. “Jackson does not deny that he disclaimed ownership of the phone at the time it was seized. … Continue reading

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N.D.Cal.: “Let me see ___” when defendant was seized is not consent

“Let me see ___” when defendant was seized is not consent. United States v. Rosette, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 80985 (N.D. Cal. May 14, 2018):

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arstechnica: Forget scanning license plates; cops will soon ID you via your roof rack

arstechnica: Forget scanning license plates; cops will soon ID you via your roof rack by Cyrus Farivar” ELSAG LPR upgrade can ID “spare tire, bumper sticker, or a ride-sharing company decal.”

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IL: Direct appeal record isn’t adequate to determine IAC claim on failure to litigate consent search

The record doesn’t show the reason for waiving a Fourth Amendment claim against a consent search and whether a motion to suppress would have been granted if litigated. A collateral proceeding is the place to do it. People v. Williamson, … Continue reading

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