Defendant was subjected to two search warrants for his cell phones in possession of the police. A motion to suppress the first search was granted because the officer recklessly included false information that deprived it of probable cause. The police got a second search warrant not including anything in the affidavit that was learned from the first, and this was sustained based on the independent source doctrine. People v. Dominguez-Castor, 2020 COA 1, 2020 Colo. App. LEXIS 12 (Jan. 2, 2020).
When defendant admitted he was armed, the officer made the “split second decision” to frisk him, and it was all with reasonable suspicion. United States v. Hunter, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 541 (11th Cir. Jan. 9, 2020).*
Defendant didn’t object to the search of his car at trial so it’s waived. On what record there is, it appears reasonable under the automobile exception. Borne v. State, 2020 Tex. App. LEXIS 85 (Tex. App. – Beaumont Jan. 8, 2020).*
The USMJ was involved in a prior qui tam civil case by defendant. Defendant in a later criminal case argues that the USMJ should have been disqualified from considering a search warrant affidavit for her property that led to the indictment. Defendant doesn’t allege enough to force a recusal. What knowledge the USMJ had was learned in official proceedings. The court doesn’t mention that the USMJ was “neutral and detached,” but that’s what it means. United States v. Sullivan, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2911 (D. Haw. Jan. 6, 2020).
2255 petitioner’s search claim is barred by Stone v. Powell. Even if not, it’s procedurally defaulted. Holland v. United States, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2859 (W.D. Tenn. Jan. 8, 2020).*
Defendant while giving a Mirandized statement agreed to a search of her cell phone, and it wasn’t limited in scope. United States v. Aquino-Bustos, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 224364 (N.D. Ga. Nov. 21, 2019),* adopted, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2903 (N.D. Ga. Jan. 7, 2020).*
There was a factual basis for the stop, and the drug dog at hand did not prolong the stop. After the alert, defendant then consented to the search of the vehicle. United States v. Navarro, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3062 (E.D. Cal. Jan. 8, 2020).
There was no ineffective assistance of counsel for defense counsel’s alleged failure to investigate a sexual relationship between the officer and the woman who provided the SD card with the child pornography on it that led to the search warrant in the case. Nothing he alleges would undermine the search warrant affidavit. Moreover, the officer interviewed the children in the videos, and that’s shown in the affidavit for warrant. “Even if it were, Defendant never clearly explains what evidence trial counsel would have obtained that could not be drawn out on cross-examination of Government witnesses and that would have led trial counsel to provide Defendant with different advice regarding the plea agreement, or led Defendant to proceed to trial, and so Defendant fails to meet his burden of demonstrating that any deficiency resulted in actual prejudice.” United States v. Bates, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2475 (W.D. Ark. Jan. 8, 2020).*
A defendant’s answers in a civil forfeiture action cannot be introduced in a parallel criminal proceeding under the authority of Garrity v. New Jersey. Here, however, it proves to be harmless error. State v. Melendez, 2020 N.J. LEXIS 2 (Jan. 8, 2020). Syllabus by the court: Continue reading →
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WaPo: Investigative tool used in law firm searches at risk, federal prosecutors fear by Ann E. Marimow (“Last spring, more than a dozen federal agents spent six hours searching the law firm of a prominent Maryland attorney, sweeping up thousands of emails, files and other documents in a money laundering and obstruction investigation. A federal appeals court panel subsequently declared the government’s review of the seized material invalid in a unanimous ruling, citing long-standing protections for the sacrosanct communications between lawyers and their clients.”)
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The Crime Report: Utah Considers Legislation to Block Police From DNA Searches (“A new bill being drafted by Utah Representatives would block investigators from having accessibility to DNA databases when trying to solve crimes and cold cases. The bill’s organizer says if this new bill passes, ‘it would be the first piece of legislation in the country to restrict law enforcement,’ ABC4 reports.”)
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Defendant’s vessel broke down off West Palm Beach, and CBP boarded it when it was towed in for a border search. Nothing was found, but various things about the boat, like it’s prior owner was a drug trafficker and defendant’s answers about travels made little sense to them, led them to put a GPS tracker on the boat without his knowledge. A month later, the boat was found broken down again, and it was towed in and boarded again, this time with drug dog and it was searched. The GPS issue is not even addressed because the inevitable discovery doctrine applies to the search of the boat because it was valid as a border search. United States v. Senese, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 423 (11th Cir. Jan. 8, 2020).
There was probable cause for a BAC warrant for defendant who was involved in a single car accident with a tree, had to be extracted from the car and taken to the hospital, and he smelled of alcohol. Mason v. State, 2020 Ga. App. LEXIS 8 (Jan. 8, 2020).*
Defendant challenges on post-conviction his counsel being ineffective in recommending a guilty plea after the motion to suppress was denied. Even if it had been granted, defendant was going to trial on other counts, and he can’t show that defense counsel was inadequate at all. Stevens v. State, 2020 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 5 (Jan. 8, 2020).
Lacking of findings of fact and conclusion of law on search issue requires remand. State v. Kline, 2020-Ohio-23, 2020 Ohio App. LEXIS 15 (9th Dist. Jan. 8, 2020).*
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Officers unlatched the door of a suspicious car parked on an cul-de-sac away from houses, and the car was suspected of a theft from a Sam’s store. The door was shut without looking inside and then a drug dog was called for. The opening the door resulted in seeing nothing. The search of the car, valid under the automobile exception, wasn’t tainted. This is attenuation and the independent source doctrine. United States v. Hendrickson, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2150 (D. Utah Jan. 6, 2020).
A doctor who admitted herself to a clinic had no Fourth Amendment claim against the clinic’s administrators for unreasonable search. They didn’t do it or order it, and she was aware it would happen as a condition of admission. Paylan v. Teitelbaum, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 242 (11th Cir. Jan. 7, 2020).*
Plaintiff sued the government because the IRS and FBI leaked to the media a search warrant for his premises and the media was there. He got $1000 in statutory damages. He filed an untimely motion to reopen based on alleged perjury at trial where he prevailed on liability. Reopening denied. Fattah v. United States, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1812 (E.D. Pa. Jan. 2, 2020).
A defendant not charged with controlled buys through a CI has no right to the name of the CI for a motion to suppress because it’s merely speculative that anything would come of it. United States v. Philon, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2183 (N.D. Ohio Jan. 7, 2020).*
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Plaintiff sued for malicious prosecution after he was imprisoned for a 1977 murder, paroled, and finally pardoned by the Governor. The pardon overcame the Heck bar, and the claim became ripe with the pardon. The court takes the occasion to clean up some dicta in other cases. Savory v. Cannon, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 315 (7th Cir. Jan. 7, 2020) (en banc): Continue reading →
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Seemingly idle questions during a traffic stop didn’t unreasonably extend it in any “measurable way.” United States v. Goodwill, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1831 (C.D. Ill. Jan. 3, 2020): Continue reading →
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The officer’s intentional delaying issuance of a traffic ticket was to ask about transporting drugs, even though only 100 seconds, was unreasonable under Rodriguez because it was an intentional deviation from the mission of the stop. United States v. Brinson, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 223821 (S.D. Ga. Dec. 4, 2019), adopted, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 875 (S.D. Ga., Jan. 3, 2020): Continue reading →
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Officers had a search warrant for defendant’s blood while he was in the hospital for an accident. Relying on United States v. Bullock, 71 F.3d 171 (5th Cir. 1995), the court concludes that reasonable force can be used to take the blood sample against defendant’s will. State v. Hoque, 2020 N.C. App. LEXIS 15 (Jan. 7, 2020).
Defendant’s 2255 alleges that defense counsel was ineffective for not challenging a search warrant because of an alleged misdescription in the place to be searched. However, the correct place was searched, error or not. Typos can be overlooked if not prejudicial. Defendant’s guilty plea waived the claim, but it’s not apparent he would prevail on the merits anyway. United States v. Rodriguez, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1521 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 3, 2020).*
“Further, the other facts identified by the State do not support a reasonable suspicion of illegal activity. None of C.B.’s described activities—walking on the side of the road at night, being present in a high-crime area, wearing a backpack, and smelling of alcohol—are a crime in and of themselves, ‘nor are they enough to make an objective determination that [C.B.] was about to be engaged in criminal activity.’” The defendant juvenile wasn’t obviously a minor. In the Interest of C.B., 2020 Ga. App. LEXIS 4 (Jan. 7, 2020).
The search of defendant’s car provided reasonable suspicion for a probation search of his house. United States v. SmallUnited States v. SmallUnited States v. Small, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 208 (3d Cir. Jan. 6, 2020).*
The petitioner here was a contractor working at a mine, and a mine safety inspector looked at equipment and cited the contractor a $116 fine. The ALJ denied relief, and, on a petition for review of the fine, the court declines further review. There is no opportunity for precompliance review under the Fourth Amendment and Dewey v. Donovan’s administrative search requirements. Western Oilfields Supply Co. v. Sec’y of Labor & Fed. Mine Safety & Health Review Comm’n, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 289 (D.C. Cir. Jan. 7, 2020).
There is no reasonable expectation of privacy in a prison cell, and plaintiff’s claim is dismissed for failure to state a claim against prison officials not even involved. Tedesco v. Superintendent Graterford SCI, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 304 (3d Cir. Jan. 7, 2020).*
NYTimes: F.B.I. Asks Apple to Help Unlock Two iPhones by Jack Nicas and Katie Benner (“The request could reignite a fight between the Silicon Valley giant and law enforcement over access to encrypted technology.”)
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"If it was easy, everybody would be doing it. It isn't, and they don't." —Me
"Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but of playing a poor hand well." –Josh Billings (pseudonym of Henry Wheeler Shaw), Josh Billings on Ice, and Other Things (1868) (erroneously attributed to Robert Louis Stevenson, among others)
“I am still learning.” —Domenico Giuntalodi (but misattributed to Michelangelo Buonarroti (common phrase throughout 1500's)).
"Love work; hate mastery over others; and avoid intimacy with the government."
—Shemaya, in the Thalmud
"It is a pleasant world we live in, sir, a very pleasant world. There are bad people in it, Mr. Richard, but if there were no bad people, there would be no good lawyers."
—Charles Dickens, “The Old Curiosity Shop ... With a Frontispiece. From a Painting by Geo. Cattermole, Etc.” 255 (1848)
"A system of law that not only makes certain conduct criminal, but also lays down rules for the conduct of the authorities, often becomes complex in its application to individual cases, and will from time to time produce imperfect results, especially if one's attention is confined to the particular case at bar. Some criminals do go free because of the necessity of keeping government and its servants in their place. That is one of the costs of having and enforcing a Bill of Rights. This country is built on the assumption that the cost is worth paying, and that in the long run we are all both freer and safer if the Constitution is strictly enforced." —Williams v. Nix, 700 F. 2d 1164, 1173 (8th Cir. 1983) (Richard Sheppard Arnold, J.), rev'd Nix v. Williams, 467 US. 431 (1984).
"The criminal goes free, if he must, but it is the law that sets him free. Nothing can destroy a government more quickly than its failure to observe its own laws, or worse, its disregard of the charter of its own existence." —Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643, 659 (1961).
"Any costs the exclusionary rule are costs imposed directly by the Fourth Amendment."
—Yale Kamisar, 86 Mich.L.Rev. 1, 36 n. 151 (1987).
"There have been powerful hydraulic pressures throughout our history that bear heavily on the Court to water down constitutional guarantees and give the police the upper hand. That hydraulic pressure has probably never been greater than it is today." — Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 39 (1968) (Douglas, J., dissenting).
"The great end, for which men entered into society, was to secure their property." —Entick v. Carrington, 19 How.St.Tr. 1029, 1066, 95 Eng. Rep. 807 (C.P. 1765)
"It is a fair summary of history to say that the safeguards of liberty have frequently been forged in controversies involving not very nice people. And so, while we are concerned here with a shabby defrauder, we must deal with his case in the context of what are really the great themes expressed by the Fourth Amendment." —United States v. Rabinowitz, 339 U.S. 56, 69 (1950) (Frankfurter, J., dissenting)
"The course of true law pertaining to searches and seizures, as enunciated here, has not–to put it mildly–run smooth." —Chapman v. United States, 365 U.S. 610, 618 (1961) (Frankfurter, J., concurring).
"A search is a search, even if it happens to disclose nothing but the bottom of a turntable." —Arizona v. Hicks, 480 U.S. 321, 325 (1987)
"For the Fourth Amendment protects people, not places. What a person knowingly exposes to the public, even in his own home or office, is not a subject of Fourth Amendment protection. ... But what he seeks to preserve as private, even in an area accessible to the public, may be constitutionally protected." —Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 351 (1967)
“Experience should teach us to be most on guard to protect liberty when the Government’s purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.” —United States v. Olmstead, 277 U.S. 438, 479 (1925) (Brandeis, J., dissenting)
“Liberty—the freedom from unwarranted intrusion by government—is as easily lost through insistent nibbles by government officials who seek to do their jobs too well as by those whose purpose it is to oppress; the piranha can be as deadly as the shark.” —United States v. $124,570, 873 F.2d 1240, 1246 (9th Cir. 1989)
"You can't always get what you want / But if you try sometimes / You just might find / You get what you need." —Mick Jagger & Keith Richards, Let it Bleed (album, 1969)
"In Germany, they first came for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Catholic. Then they came for me–and by that time there was nobody left to speak up."
—Martin Niemöller (1945) [he served seven years in a concentration camp]
“Children grow up thinking the adult world is ordered, rational, fit for purpose. It’s crap. Becoming a man is realising that it’s all rotten. Realising how to celebrate that rottenness, that’s freedom.” – John le Carré, The Night Manager (1993), line by Richard Roper
"The point of the Fourth Amendment, which often is not grasped by zealous officers, is not that it denies law enforcement the support of the usual inferences which reasonable men draw from evidence. Its protection consists in requiring that those inferences be drawn by a neutral and detached magistrate instead of being judged by the officer engaged in the often competitive enterprise of ferreting out crime." —Johnson v. United States, 333 U.S. 10, 13-14 (1948)
The book was dedicated in the first (1982) and sixth (2025) editions to Justin William Hall (1975-2025). He was three when this project started in 1978.
