KY: 2 am knock-and-talk based on tip was suppressed where tip quickly proved wrong

2 a.m. knock and talk based on midnight anonymous call about noxious odors from the property was invalid where the officers approaching smelled nothing. “Upon receipt of the anonymous tip, the police had a duty to respond and investigate to ensure the safety of the public; however, once the police realized that the tip was unreliable, absent an emergency or some other reason for having access to the homeowner, the officers were not justified invading the curtilage of Hack’s property at 2 a.m.” Hack v. Commonwealth, 2014 Ky. App. LEXIS 150 (September 12, 2014).

Removing a package from an airport mailroom conveyor belt and placing it on the floor to be sniffed by a drug dog is not a seizure under either the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution or the Minnesota Constitution because the movement of the package does not constitute meaningful interference with the addressee’s possessory interests in the package. State v. Eichers, 2014 Minn. LEXIS 456 (September 10, 2014).*

Probable cause for a car search came from defendant consuming alcohol sitting in his parked car and the smell of marijuana from it as officers approached. The search of defendant’s cell phone was valid under California authority at the time, so the Davis good faith exception applies. United States v. Garcia, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 128207 (N.D. Cal. September 12, 2014).*

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