Daily Archives: October 22, 2020

NY: Ex ante DNA warrant process didn’t challenge PC and it was otherwise reasonable

In New York, a search warrant for corporeal evidence allows the target to contest the probable cause before issuance and execution of the warrant on reasonableness and probable cause. Here, defendant didn’t challenge the probable cause, and the warrant could … Continue reading

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TX: Is abandonment of a car also abandonment of the information in a cell phone left in it?

Dissent on denial of a petition for discretionary review: The court should decide whether fleeing a car and leaving one’s cell phone behind is abandonment. The court of appeals below held it was. Wiltz v. State, 595 S.W.3d 930, 936 … Continue reading

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W.D.Okla.: A longstanding personal relationship between owner of premises and def didn’t confer standing without guest status

Defendant’s longstanding personal relationship with the owner of the premises searched was insufficient to show standing. He wasn’t a guest. United States v. Brooks, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 195402 (W.D. Okla. Oct. 21, 2020):

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M.D.Fla.: Borrower of a rental car with a suspended DL has no standing

“Because the Eleventh Circuit has not yet addressed this issue, the Court has carefully considered the reasoning of the Lyle and Bettis cases and concludes, in line with the Second Circuit, that the unlicensed driver of a rental car should … Continue reading

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PA: Mere presence of cell phones near drugs in a home isn’t PC for their search

The search warrant for defendant’s cell phones, issued months after the seizure of heroin and firearms from his home, completely lacked probable cause. The mere fact cell phones were on defendant in proximity to drugs isn’t enough, and “officer’s experience” … Continue reading

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MS: Failure to discuss 4A claims with def isn’t IAC

Defense counsel is not shown to be ineffective merely because defense counsel didn’t advise him that a motion to suppress maybe could have been pursued. Cuevas v. State, 2020 Miss. App. LEXIS 587 (Oct. 20, 2020). Defendant’s guilty plea waived … Continue reading

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