CO: Basement apt could be searched on SW for premises based on CP coming from IP address of premises

“When Dhyne encountered police outside the house, he told them that he (1) rented a separate unit in the basement and (2) used the same IP address as the subscriber. In our view, this second piece of information is critical. It gave the police reason to believe that the area to be searched — the parts of the physical address from which the IP address could be accessed — was ‘used in common’ and ‘not secured against access by the other occupants.’ Martinez, 165 P.3d at 911 (quoting 2 LaFave, § 4.5(b), at 529 (3d ed. 1996)). Because police had information that the IP address linked to the subscriber’s physical address (the basis for probable cause) was commonly used by Dhyne in his separate residence at that physical address, the search of Dhyne’s apartment was authorized by the warrant, notwithstanding his separate unit.” People v. Dhyne, 2022 COA 122, 2022 Colo. App. LEXIS 1545 (Oct. 20, 2022).

The affidavit for search warrant showed probable cause to believe the defendants coordinated their actions to justify warrants for the phones. “The surveillance videos established that Defendant has at least one coconspirator who helped him hunt down the victim and get away from the scene. The affidavit also described how three vehicles, one of which was the suspects’ getaway car, moved in a coordinated fashion before the shooting. A reasonable inference is that communications needed to be instantaneously made to facilitate such an effort, most likely via phones. It is thus reasonable for the affiant, who had extensive law enforcement experience, to believe that probable cause existed to find exchanges between co-defendants related to the shooting on Defendant’s phones.” United States v. Peterson, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 190827 (E.D. Mich. Oct. 19, 2022).

This entry was posted in Probable cause, Scope of search. Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.