Daily Archives: February 29, 2020

D.Idaho: Faint smell of MJ and “excessive nervousness” not RS

Faint smell of marijuana and nervousness was not reasonable suspicion. The court also doesn’t find the travel plans at all suspicious. United States v. Lee, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33091 (D. Idaho Feb. 25, 2020). Plaintiff’s nolo plea barred his … Continue reading

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N.D.Ohio: An open container in a car is probable cause under the automobile exception to search for other open containers

An open container in a car is probable cause under the automobile exception to search for other open containers. In addition: “Here, Patrolmen Link and McClamroch had received information that a retaliatory shooting could occur near the location they stopped … Continue reading

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N.D.Iowa: “Let’s step inside and talk for a second” did not lead to consent

“Let’s step inside and talk for a second” did not lead to consent. “Although the language itself implies some joint or equal action, it also implies some level of insistence. See Williams v. United States, 263 F.2d 487, 849 (D.C. … Continue reading

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CA10: NCMEC’s receipt of suspected CP from AOL was subject to GFE

The good faith exception applies to NCMEC’s receipt of suspected child pornography from AOL from an account holder. NCMEC objectively relied upon a statute that had never been challenged before. United States v. Ackerman, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 5806 (10th … Continue reading

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CA10: Shooting a person fleeing a shooting scene without determining he was the shooter might have been unreasonable, but right not to be shot in this situation not clearly established (Really)

In a § 1983 Fourth Amendment excessive force suit, officers heard a gun shot and saw people running as a crowd left a concert. They shot and killed the decedent, and a jury could conclude that the officers unreasonably determined … Continue reading

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TN: Def’s consent came before implied consent reading occurred

No credible argument can be made that the statutory implied consent actually supplies the type of voluntary consent sufficient to create an exception to the warrant requirement. For purposes of the Fourth Amendment and state constitution, however, defendant voluntarily consented … Continue reading

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OR: Stop of def for being either involved in accident or material witness to it lacked RS

Defendant was in a vehicle that passed by the scene of a one vehicle accident the police were working. The officer somehow decided that the occupants of the passing vehicle had knowledge of the stop, and he engaged in a … Continue reading

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TX3: Cell phone in evidence room from 2009 could be searched with SW after def charged with 2018 capital murder

Defendant had a cell phone seized from him in 2009 that remained in the police evidence room. After another crime, this time a capital murder, the phone was searched with a warrant in 2018. The delay wasn’t unreasonable because defendant … Continue reading

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D.Ariz.: SW wasn’t shown to be willfully without PC or overbroad, so GFE applies

Officer’s negligence [my word, not the court’s] in drafting and obtaining a search warrant that was potentially without probable cause and overbroad in scope didn’t overcome the good faith exception. United States v. Snow, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31713 (D. … Continue reading

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CA5: Citizen of China on ship stopped on high seas by U.S. officers had no 4A rights

“Liang’s first argument, concerning the denial of a hearing on his motion to suppress evidence, is wholly frivolous. Because Liang is ‘a citizen and resident of [China] with no voluntary attachment to the United States’ and the challenged search occurred … Continue reading

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CA9: Facebook copying an account for a coming SW was not a seizure

Facebook’s merely copying defendant’s account for a search warrant was not a seizure. United States v. Perez, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 5541 (9th Cir. Feb. 21, 2020). Probable cause existed for plaintiff’s arrest for constructive possession when she was found … Continue reading

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