WV: Domestic disturbance call with injuries justified warrantless entry

Police responded to a domestic disturbance call and found defendant’s wife injured and distraught. They entered the house without an arrest or search warrant to find defendant, and he was in bed. They asked him to show his hands to be sure he wasn’t armed, and he had blood on his hands. He was handcuffed. The entry was justified by exigency. State v. Rexrode, 2020 W. Va. LEXIS 356 (June 8, 2020):

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NJ: Destruction by policy of audio of telephonic SW application required suppression even without bad faith

This case proceeded on a telephonic search warrant where the application was recorded as required by law. The recording, however, was destroyed in 90 days under the department’s records retention policy. While the destruction wasn’t in bad faith, the recording is fundamental to the warrant process in New Jersey, and the search is suppressed. Defendant wasn’t indicted immediately, and he promptly filed a discovery motion, but the recording was already gone. State v. J.L., 2020 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1063 (June 5, 2020) (unpublished).*

“Even if we consider the information regarding the marijuana blunts in plain view as false and thus omit it, the affidavit nonetheless provided probable cause to issue the warrant.” McMurray v. State, 2020 Ga. App. LEXIS 325 (June 5, 2020).*

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WI: OUI justifies Gant search incident of vehicle based at least on RS evidence might be found

Arrest for OUI permits a search incident of the interior of defendant’s car for evidence of the offense under Gant based at least on reasonable suspicion. “[P1] We review a decision of the court of appeals affirming the circuit court denial of Mose B. Coffee’s motion to suppress evidence obtained from a search of a vehicle incident to his lawful arrest for Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) that Coffee argues violated the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The court of appeals reasoned that the lawful arrest for OWI, in and of itself, supplied a basis to search the passenger compartment, and, specifically, a bag located behind the driver’s seat that contained marijuana. [P2] We disagree that the lawful arrest for OWI, in and of itself, supplied a sufficient basis to search the passenger compartment of Coffee’s vehicle. However, the search was lawful because police had reasonable suspicion, based on the totality of the circumstances, that the passenger compartment, and, specifically, the bag, might contain evidence of OWI. Accordingly, we affirm the court of appeals.” The court examines the categorical and totality approaches. State v. Coffee, 2020 WI 53, 2020 Wisc. LEXIS 130 (June 5, 2020).

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D.Colo: TRO granted against excessive force or use of chemical agents against peaceful protestors

Abay v. City of Denver, 20-cv-01616-RBJ (D. Colo. June 5, 2020, 8:39 pm):

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CA3: Officer was face-to-face with citizen informant in a high-crime area about man with a gun; it was sufficiently reliable

“Officer Pickel received a tip that Torres, just moments before, had discharged a firearm in a high-crime area. A brief encounter with police ensued. Only thirty-five seconds elapsed between the time when Officer Pickel ordered Torres to stop and when police secured Torres’s firearm. Thus, the seizure was an investigatory stop—not an arrest.” “Because Torres was subjected to an investigatory stop, we next ask whether the stop was supported by reasonable suspicion. Wardlow, 528 U.S. at 123. It was.” “Based on the Brown factors, the tip was reliable. First, Officer Pickel interacted with the tipster face-to-face and thus could assess his credibility. The tipster waved down Officer Pickel and adamantly explained what he had personally witnessed. Second, Officer Pickel would likely be able to hold the man accountable if his allegation were untrue. Although Officer Pickel did not know the tipster’s name or his car’s license plate number, he did know what the man looked like and the make of the car that he drove. Third, the tipster had just witnessed the alleged criminal activity. See Navarette v. California, 572 U.S. 393, 400 (2014) (observing that a statement ‘made under the stress of excitement caused by a startling event … weigh[s] in favor of the [tipster’s] veracity’). [¶] The fact that Torres was in a high-crime area also favors reliability.” United States v. Torres, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 17695 (3d Cir. June 5, 2020).

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N.D.Ga.: First class mail is closed to Customs inspection; priority mail is not

There is a reasonable expectation of privacy in first class mail and mail with full postage from a customs search coming into the Virgin Islands. 19 C.F.R. § 145.1. Priority class mail is subject to customs inspection. United States v. France, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 98000 (N.D. Ga. June 4, 2020).

A search warrant for small digital devices, as small as a postage stamp, authorized search of a safe in the place to be searched because that’s a likely place for where they could be concealed. That also included manipulating a silencer. United States v. Presson, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 98210 (W.D. Mo. June 4, 2020).

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NM: What was intended for SW and what it says are two different things

The search warrant request for plaintiff’s person and vehicle resulted only in a warrant for the vehicle. What the defendant officer intended doesn’t count in the face of the clear warrant. A forced rectal search and x-ray at a hospital was unreasonable and not provided for in the warrant. There are factual disputes against qualified immunity. Plaintiff sued the doctor and the hospital, too. Young v. Gila Reg’l Med. Ctr., 2020 N.M. App. LEXIS 26 (June 4, 2020).

There was probable cause for search of defendant’s vehicle under a search warrant because there was a reasonable conclusion that this was the same car described by witnesses. United States v. Walker, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 98208 (E.D. N.C. June 4, 2020).*

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Courthouse News Service: New House Bill Would Revoke ‘Qualified Immunity’ for Police

Courthouse News Service: New House Bill Would Revoke ‘Qualified Immunity’ for Police by Thomas Harrison (“The bill would eliminate qualified immunity, the ability of police officers to argue they acted in good faith when they violated someone’s constitutional rights. It also allows police to be sued for enforcing a law if the law is subsequently changed. The doctrine has come under attack recently by both liberal and conservative scholars.”)

So query: qualified immunity on repeal of qualified immunity?

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Three on Franks

Defendant’s Franks challenge was properly rejected because assuming the challenged information was out of the affidavit, probable cause still exists. United States v. Carrasco, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 17553 (9th Cir. June 4, 2020).*

In a civil rights case, the Franks challenge was rejected as speculative, and probable cause remained. Siddiqui v. Rocheleau, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 17566 (2d Cir. June 4, 2020).*

Even including the omitted exculpatory evidence that defendant complains about, there still was probable cause for the search. The exculpatory evidence didn’t undermine the probable cause. The warrant was also particular with an incorporated attachment. United States v. Sanders, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 98261 (N.D. Okla. June 4, 2020).*

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CA11: Nervousness and some other things don’t rise to RS

There was no reasonable suspicion for defendant’s continued detention after his traffic stop. The officer testified he was more nervous than normal, but the court couldn’t see it on the video. Each of the government’s arguments for reasonable suspicion on the totality is rejected, and the suppression order is affirmed. United States v. Byron, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 17523 (11th Cir. June 4, 2020)*:

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SCOTUS conferencing 10 qualified immunity cases today

Probably the results of the conference on Monday.

See WaPo: Supreme Court asked to reconsider immunity available to police accused of brutality

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“America was neither founded, nor freed, by the well-behaved.”

— Semmes Luckett Jr. of Clarksdale, Mississippi

[This was posted on July 4, 2010 & 2012]

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E.D.Cal.: Material information relevant to a Franks challenge was withheld by the gov’t, and the court finds a Brady violation

Material information relevant to a Franks challenge was withheld by the government, and the court finds a Brady violation. If known to defendant, the outcome might have been different. United States v. Sheikh, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97663 (E.D. Cal. June 3, 2020):

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CNET: Geofence warrants: How police get data from all devices in targeted areas

CNET: Geofence warrants: How police get data from all devices in targeted areas by Alfred Ng (“The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is also challenging the constitutionality of geofence warrants in a Virginia case. The organization argues that geofence warrants are unconstitutional because of how broad the requests are. ‘This is no ordinary warrant. It is a general warrant purporting to authorize a classic dragnet search of every Google user who happened to be near a bank in suburban Richmond during rush hour on a Monday evening,’ the association said in court documents. ‘This is the kind of investigatory tactic that the Fourth Amendment was designed to guard against.'”)

Salon: Police are using protests as an excuse to unleash new surveillance tech (“Experts fear a severe threat to free speech posed by drones and other novel surveillance tools”)

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ND: Parole search of cell phone after def incarcerated reasonable

The parole search of defendant’s cell phone after he was incarcerated was valid. Here, the officers had reasonable suspicion. (The court saves for another day whether such a search without reasonable suspicion would be valid.) State v. Powley, 2020 ND 124, 2020 N.D. LEXIS 113 (June 2, 2020).

2254 petitioner challenged the search in state court, so he had his full and fair opportunity to litigate in state court under Stone v. Powell. Taylor v. Chapman, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 17503 (6th Cir. June 3, 2020).*
https://www.ndcourts.gov/supreme-court/opinion/2020ND124

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NJ: No REP in text messages in recipient’s cell phone

There is no reasonable expectation of privacy in text messages in the receiving cell phone. The court also discusses the third party doctrine as to private persons. State v. Armstrong, 2020 N.J. Super. LEXIS 86 (June 2, 2020).

Defendant’s conclusory motion to suppress for lack of probable cause is denied for inadequate pleading. He just can’t rely on the police reports to establish his standing. “Defendant’s equally conclusory arguments in support of his request for a Franks hearing … also fall well short of the required showing for that relief.” United States v. Matthews, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95767 (W.D. N.Y. Apr. 21, 2020).*

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TX14: No RS for going up to parked car in parking lot without RS

The officer did not have reasonable suspicion to stop and talk to defendant sitting in a car with another in a parking lot at night doing nothing. The area was considered high crime, but there was nothing suggesting any need for the officer to approach the car and direct the window be lowered. When it was rolled down, the officer smelled marijuana. Johnson v. State, 2020 Tex. App. LEXIS 4189 (Tex. App. – Houston (14th Dist.) May 28, 2020).

Defendant’s Franks motion was already denied, so it can’t form a basis for outrageous governmental conduct. United States v. Losch, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97287 (D. Ariz. June 3, 2020).

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E.D.Mo.: Search incident of backpack cut off handcuffed def was still proper

“In the instant case, as in Perdoma, even though Hill was handcuffed at the time of the search, the circumstances leading up to the search justified the warrantless search. Hill, the subject of a valid arrest warrant, appeared to be under the influence when first encountered by police; he then led police on a rather lengthy foot chase; and, after being tackled by an officer, he resisted being handcuffed. Given the totality of the circumstances, the warrantless search of the backpack, which was still strapped to Hill’s back at the time of his arrest, was a valid search incident to his lawful arrest. As such, Hill’s motion to suppress should be denied.” United States v. Hill, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97285 (E.D. Mo. Apr. 7, 2020).*

Defense counsel could not be ineffective for not challenging defendant’s parole search. Waldron v. United States, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97283 (S.D. W.Va. Apr. 29, 2020),* adopted 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 96644 (S.D. W.Va. June 2, 2020).*

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N.D.Ind.: Def’s claim the warrant for his Facebook account is akin to Carpenter and CSLI fails as completely speculative and an admitted “guess”

United States v. Cox, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97326 (N.D. Ind. June 3, 2020):

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GA: Trash search here didn’t provide nexus to def’s house

Because the time and manner of the placement of the trash here presented no factual confidence that the trash came solely from defendant’s house, the trial court was permitted here to conclude that the trash came from more than one residence. Thus, the trial court’s conclusion there was no nexus to defendant’s house was not clearly erroneous. State v. Cartee, 2020 Ga. App. LEXIS 307 (June 3, 2020):

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