CA9: Seizure of 12 firearms from the home during a mental health crisis and then delaying return was reasonable under community caretaking function

Plaintiff called the police on her husband because of a mental health crisis, and the police seized 12 firearms from the home. She petitioned for return on the firearms, and the Superior Court denied relief and she appealed, and it was affirmed. She sued in federal court for the guns with Second and Fourth Amendment claims. Issue preclusion on the question of return of the guns wasn’t pled but it was applied in the interest of judicial economy. On the Fourth Amendment claim, exigency and the community caretaking function applied. The police had no idea when he would be released from the mental ward. Rodriguez v. City of San Jose, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 21897 (9th Cir. July 23, 2019):
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MI: Reaching out one’s door to pass identification doesn’t justify a “hot pursuit.” Protection of home is highest 4A value

Reaching out one’s door to pass identification doesn’t justify a “hot pursuit.” “In this case we must decide whether defendant’s constitutional right to be free from unreasonable seizures was violated when a police officer entered her home to complete her arrest for a misdemeanor offense. The Court of Appeals concluded that defendant exposed herself to public arrest when she reached out her doorway to retrieve her identification and that when she pulled her arm back into her home the officer’s entry was lawful as a ‘hot pursuit.’ We disagree. Defendant did not surrender her Fourth Amendment rights when she interacted with law enforcement at her doorway because she consistently maintained her reasonable expectation of privacy throughout the encounter, and further, the entry was not justified under the ‘hot pursuit’ exception to the warrant requirement. The warrantless arrest was unreasonable under Payton v New York, 445 U.S. 573, 100 S. Ct. 1371, 63 L. Ed. 2d 639 (1980). We reverse the Court of Appeals judgment and remand this case to the trial court for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.” People v. Hammerlund, 2019 Mich. LEXIS 1286 (July 23, 2019).

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WSJ: Prosecutors Back Barr’s Call for Access to Encrypted Devices

WSJ: Prosecutors Back Barr’s Call for Access to Encrypted Devices by James Rundle:

U.S. attorneys from New York say law-enforcement authorities need access to encrypted communications to catch criminals

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CA9: Officer who drafted clearly overbroad SW doesn’t get qualified immunity just because a judge signed off on it

The officer who drafted a clearly overbroad warrant that a judge approved that sought diaries and other papers wasn’t entitled to qualified immunity. Estate of Brown v. Lambert, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 22087 (9th Cir. July 24, 2019).

Plaintiff’s decedent was given a ride to the county line and dumped to walk at night. They call it “vagrant dumping.” He was hit by a car and killed. They sued. The seizure for vagrant dumping was clearly established by Supreme Court precedent that he was seized and removed without probable cause, and they get no qualified immunity on the Fourth Amendment claim. Keller v. Fleming, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 21946 (5th Cir. July 23, 2019).*

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D.P.R.: Lack of paperwork on inventory at hearing is troubling, but the inventory was still valid

Not leaving defendant’s car in the “largest shopping mall in the Caribbean” justified removal and inventory of the car. The lack of paperwork at the hearing was troubling, but not unconstitutional. United States v. Villa-Guillen, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 123537 (D. P.R. July 25, 2019):
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CA9: Warrantless entry into def’s home after tracking device went off and created exigency

“The agents secured a court order authorizing insertion of a tracking device to conduct a controlled delivery of a package of methamphetamine, but their subsequent entry into defendant’s residence to secure the package was warrantless. [¶] The panel affirmed the district court’s ruling that the agents’ entry was presumptively unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment but, considering the totality of the circumstances, exigent circumstances existed to justify the entry because it was reasonable to conclude that the destruction of incriminating evidence was occurring. Defendant’s subsequent consent for a more thorough search was not therefore tainted by an illegal entry, and the district court did not err by denying his motion to suppress.” (Summary by the court) United States v. Kazuyoshi Iwai, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 21899 (9th Cir. July 23, 2019).

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Dallas Morning News: No shower for 23 days: U.S. citizen says conditions were so bad that he almost self-deported

Dallas Morning News: No shower for 23 days: U.S. citizen says conditions were so bad that he almost self-deported by Obed Manuel:

Francisco Erwin Galicia, a Dallas-born U.S. citizen, spent 23 days in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection in conditions that made him so desperate he almost opted to self-deport.

Galicia says he lost 26 pounds during that time in a South Texas immigrant detention center because officers didn’t provide him with enough food.

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The Hill: Opinion: Don’t ban facial recognition

The Hill: Opinion: Don’t ban facial recognition by Amitai Etzioni:
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WaPo: A [SF] judge signed a warrant to search a journalist. But police didn’t tell her the whole story.

WaPo: A judge signed a warrant to search a journalist. But police didn’t tell her the whole story.
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NYT: Your Data Were ‘Anonymized’? These Scientists Can Still Identify You

NYT: Your Data Were ‘Anonymized’? These Scientists Can Still Identify You by Gina Kolata:

Computer scientists have developed an algorithm that can pick out almost any American in databases supposedly stripped of personal information.

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NYT: New York City to Consider Banning Sale of Cellphone Location Data

NYT: New York City to Consider Banning Sale of Cellphone Location Data By Jeffery C. Mays:

A bill would make it illegal for cellphone companies and mobile apps to share user location information collected in the city without a customer’s explicit permission.

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D.Ariz.: No issue preclusion from defense favorable state court search decision being appealed

Plaintiff does not get the benefit of issue preclusion based on a motion to suppress hearing where it was granted and still being appealed. Hamberlin v. Arizona, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 122475 (D. Ariz. July 23, 2019).

Defendant’s claim that the search warrant wasn’t particular is rejected because it clearly was. Moreover, the good faith exception applies. United States v. Bryant, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 122588 (D. Minn. July 23, 2019).*

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W.D.Va.: Def satisfies burden to get a Franks hearing by showing material omissions

Defendant satisfies his burden to get a Franks hearing by showing material omissions from the affidavit. United States v. Anderson, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 122131 (W.D. Va. July 23, 2019):
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MA: Def’s stop a mile away without really matching description wasn’t justified

There was no reasonable suspicion for defendant’s patdown away from the scene of the alleged crime. The state claims he looked like the guy, but there was also substantial evidence he wasn’t the guy by his dress. He was also stopped a mile away. Commonwealth v. Jones, 2019 Mass. App. LEXIS 90 (July 22, 2019).

The evidence supports the trial court conclusion that there was a factual basis for the stop. Defendant attacks one basis but not another. State v. Freshwater, 2019-Ohio-2968, 2019 Ohio App. LEXIS 3059 (11th Dist. July 22, 2019).*

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CA10: While some might disagree with OCCA’s opinion on abandonment, it’s not “unreasonable” under AEDPA

This is a § 2254 habeas challenging via an IAC claim whether defense counsel properly litigated his motion to suppress over whether his backpack was abandoned. That was also resolved in the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. While people might disagree, it can’t be said that that court’s decision was unreasonable under AEDPA. Therefore, no certificate of appealability will issue. Miller v. Bear, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 21664 (10th Cir. July 22, 2019):
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CA4: Def counsel not ineffective for not filing CSLI motion before Carpenter

Defense counsel can’t be ineffective for not anticipating Carpenter by filing a CSLI motion before it was decided. United States v. Jackson, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 21716 (4th Cir. July 22, 2019).

Defendant’s motion to prevent a search of his cell phone because of delay is moot because the search finally occurred. He can file a motion to suppress instead. United States v. Chacon-Manriquez, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 121563 (D. N.M. July 22, 2019).*

Defendant doesn’t meet his high Franks burden to show an omission or false statement. Under the normal standard of review, there was probable cause for issuance of the search warrant. United States v. Glover, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 121395 (N.D. Ill. July 22, 2019).*

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D.N.D.: The fact the state judge issuing the SW represented a potential witness named in the affidavit didn’t make him not “neutral and detached”

The search warrant issuing state judge was not a neutral and detached magistrate just because he previously represented a potential witness in the case whose name was in the affidavit. There certainly was probable cause. Besides, the good faith exception applied. United States v. Brown, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 121334 (D. N.D. July 22, 2019).

There is no question of the credibility of the officer that the stop was objectively justified, so his pretext argument fails. “Once Westbrook stated there was a firearm in his vehicle, the proverbial cat was out of the bag. Based upon their knowledge that Westbrook was a convicted felon and his statement, the officers had probable cause to search the vehicle for evidence of a crime-namely, the firearm.” United States v. Westbrook, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 121698 (E.D. Ky. July 1, 2019),* adopted, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 121257 (E.D. Ky. July 22, 2019).*

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govtech: Motorola Solutions Buys Body Cam Maker, Consolidating Market

govtech: Motorola Solutions Buys Body Cam Maker, Consolidating Market:

The buyout of WatchGuard brings Motorola Solutions into some of the largest police departments in the country, simultaneously creating a potential path for facial recognition to those departments.

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Forbes: Social Media Has Primed Us For An Eventual Surveillance State

Forbes: Social Media Has Primed Us For An Eventual Surveillance State by Curtis Silver:
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TN: Def counsel can’t be ineffective for not moving to suppress where it’s apparent there was no standing

Defense counsel can’t be ineffective for not moving to suppress evidence seized off a co- defendant because defendant wouldn’t have any standing. Smith v. State, 2019 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 442 (July 22, 2019).*

It was professionally reasonable for defense counsel to not file a likely fruitless motion to suppress. Walker v. United States, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 121033 (D. Idaho July 18, 2019).*

Partially blocking defendant’s path with a police car to talk to him didn’t turn the encounter into a seizure. His displaying drugs was probable cause. United States v. Ochoa, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 120019 (S.D. N.Y. July 18, 2019).*

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