Daily Archives: June 27, 2019

TechDirt: Data From Court Documents Shows Texas Law Enforcement Playing Small-Ball Forfeiture, Not Doing Much To Stop Drug Trafficking

TechDirt: Data From Court Documents Shows Texas Law Enforcement Playing Small-Ball Forfeiture, Not Doing Much To Stop Drug Trafficking by Tim Cushing: Small seizures work out best for law enforcement. The cost of fighting the forfeiture usually outpaces the value … Continue reading

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NYTimes: Opinion: A Major Police Body Cam Company Just Banned Facial Recognition

NYTimes: Opinion: A Major Police Body Cam Company Just Banned Facial Recognition: Its ethics board says the technology is not reliable enough to justify using.

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SCOTUS: Warrantless blood draw from unconscious driver not unreasonable

A warrantless blood draw from an unconscious driver who became unconscious by the time he arrived at the hospital was reasonable under a state law that permits warrantless BAC testing of those incapable of consent by implied consent. Remanded, however, … Continue reading

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CA8: PC shown for Facebook SW; no suppression just because Facebook produced on the 15th day

Officers had seen photographs on defendant’s Facebook page holding guns, and he was a convicted felon. There was thus probable cause for a search warrant to Facebook to produce the account. The warrant was served on Facebook with a 14 … Continue reading

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D.Me.: Byrd doesn’t confer standing in the other car in a caravan

Byrd does not confer standing in a rented car part of a two-car caravan where defendant didn’t rent the other car and wasn’t even in it. United States v. Beauregard, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106904 (D. Me. June 26, 2019). … Continue reading

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E.D.N.C.: No IAC in foregoing motion to suppress to tamp down more bad facts and plea bargain instead

Facing a 21 U.S.C. § 851 enhancement, it was objectively reasonable strategy for defense counsel to forego a doubtful motion to suppress that would dredge up additional bad facts and make plea bargaining harder. Thomas v. United States, 2019 U.S. … Continue reading

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FL3: A flash drive plugged into a work computer is subject to search as a part of the work computer

Defendant was employed by the Miami-Dade Police Department and worked in the armory. She was suspected of falsifying police reports to get her husband fired from his job. When investigators went to her work computer, her personal flash drive was … Continue reading

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E.D.Pa.: Ruse to gain entry for arrest was reasonable on totality

Police used a ruse to get access to defendant’s house to execute an arrest warrant on him, and this was reasonable on the totality. United States v. Jones, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107015 (E.D. Pa. June 25, 2019):

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MS: No passenger standing in car despite well-secreted drugs

Defendant argued he had standing in a car because he was more than a mere passenger because of how the drugs were hidden and “because ‘[h]e had access to parts of the car that were not normally accessible to a … Continue reading

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S.D.Ill.: No 4A claim for prison lockdown and shakedown for drugs

There is no Fourth Amendment claim available to an inmate at USP Marion for prison wide shakedowns for two days after drugs came in and the prison went into lockdown. Kammeyer v. True, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107060 (S.D. Ill. … Continue reading

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NY1: Search incident of a “booster bag” at time of arrest outside a store was reasonable

Defendants were involved in store thefts with a “booster bag” where they were going into the stores and making off with stuff in bag and then transferring it to a rolling suitcase on the street. When the police observed a … Continue reading

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