A walk through of defendant’s premises before seeking a search warrant resulted in observation of digital scales and that observation got into the search warrant application. Excluding that still resulted in probable cause. United States v. Baker, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39458 (S.D. Ohio Mar. 12, 2019).*
There was probable cause for the search warrant in this case, and officers executing the warrant were lawfully on the premises for a plain view of a firearm once in the place. United States v. Hines, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38471 (N.D. Fla. Mar. 11, 2019).*
The application for the search warrant for defendant’s BAC was supported by probable cause. State v. TugultschinowState v. TugultschinowState v. Tugultschinow, 2019 Del. Super. LEXIS 124 (Mar. 12, 2019).*
Posted inProbable cause|Comments Off on S.D.Ohio: An observation in the premises before SW was sought was excluded from consideration and PC still existed
This is one federal court’s practical explanation of how to analyze a particularity problem. United States v. Suggs, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38071 (D. Colo. Mar. 11, 2019). The search warrants were particular enough. Continue reading →
Posted inParticularity|Comments Off on D.Colo.: One federal court’s practical explanation of how to analyze a particularity problem.
Defendant’s cell phone was lawfully seized but apparently forgotten about. In preparation of the case, an assistant prosecutor found out about it and sought a search warrant, 536 days after seizure. The delay was unreasonable, and the phone’s contents are suppressed. State v. Rosenbaum, 2019 Ga. LEXIS 155 (Mar. 11, 2019).
Defendant’s post-conviction claim of trial counsel’s failure to preserve his search claim was not briefed on appeal and it’s waived. State v. Assad, 2019 Neb. App. LEXIS 70 (Mar. 11, 2019).*
Georgia grants review of whether “the search and seizure of the airbag control module violates the Fourth Amendment?” and whether inevitable discovery applies. Mobley v. State, 2019 Ga. LEXIS 176 (Mar. 11, 2019).*
A municipal zoning official operating under a facially valid cease and desist order gets qualified immunity for his attempted entry to administratively inspect property. Melillo v. Brais, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38350 (D. Conn. Mar. 11, 2019).*
Trash pulls finding baggie cut corner pieces was probable cause for possession of drugs on the premises. United States v. Jackson, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38664 (W.D. Pa. Mar. 11, 2019)
The evidence shows that defendant’s wife consented to a search of their house. She had common authority, and there was no evidence of coercion. State v. Gray-Brown, 2019 Conn. App. LEXIS 93 (Mar. 12, 2019).*
A trial judge in Michigan was censured for sending the deputy prosecutor the name of an unpublished case on point in a contested suppression hearing without sharing it with the defense. The prosecutor shared it after consulting his boss. In re Filip, 2019 Mich. LEXIS 369 (Mar. 11, 2019).*
Posted inConsent, Probable cause|Comments Off on W.D.Pa.: Trash pulls finding baggie cut corner pieces was probable cause
In addition to specific facts, officers may state their experience that nexus in a cell phone can be found as to certain crimes, and courts should credit that if reasonable. United States v. Fogg, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38498 (D. Me. Mar. 11, 2019): Continue reading →
Posted inNexus|Comments Off on D.Me.: Nexus for a cell phone SW can be based on officer’s stated experience
The trial court misapplied the collective knowledge doctrine and held that the state failed to show reasonable suspicion without testimony from every officer involved. There was, in fact, reasonable suspicion for defendant’s stop. Officers followed a vehicle from the home she shared with her codefendant and lost sight of it for a few minutes and found it again. She wasn’t in it when it was stopped, but she was believed to be in it when they started. She was found nearby walking, and it was highly improbable she walked from the house to where she was found. People v. Threlkel, 2019 CO 18 (Mar. 11, 2019): Continue reading →
Officers did not need a search warrant to enter her hospital room to talk to her about her still birth or whether she killed the fetus. There was no reasonable expectation of privacy at the time of the entry. She also objectively consented to the officers remaining there and talking to her. In re M.S., 2019 Cal. App. LEXIS 203 (2d Dist. Mar. 11, 2019): Continue reading →
Posted inReasonable expectation of privacy|Comments Off on Cal.2d: No REP in a hospital room with an open door and nurses coming and going
In a case GVRd after Carpenter, Indiana finds Carpenter would be followed, but the good faith exception applied. Moreover, it was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Zanders v. State, 2019 Ind. LEXIS 46 (Mar. 8, 2019): Continue reading →
Defendant’s geolocation information was obtained by search warrant to attempt to place his cell phone at or near the scene of a murder. The court finds that the information provided satisfies Daubert and will be admissible at trial. State v. Pierce, 2019 Del. Super. LEXIS 118 (Mar. 6, 2019).
Defendant’s CSLI was obtained by a valid search warrant. United States v. Fregia, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37762 (D. Mont. Mar. 9, 2019).*
Officers obtained CSLI by search warrant. Defendant contended there was a Franks violation in obtaining it. The omitted information isn’t material. United States v. Kinney, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37767 (D. N.M. Mar. 9, 2019).*
Posted inCell site location information|Comments Off on DE: State’s expert testimony on effect of CSLI satisfied Daubert and admissible
The householder here consented by his actions to police entry to search for defendant. “Regardless of who is deemed more credible, Marshall admits that, after he told the officers that OJ was not there, he unlocked the screen door and pushed it open to let the officers in. Based on this admission, the Court finds that Marshall unequivocally and specifically consented to the search, if not expressly, then at least impliedly. See United States v. Gamez, 389 F. Supp. 2d 975, 979 (S.D. Ohio 2005) (noting that consent to search ‘may be in the form of words, gesture or conduct.;).” United States v. Marshall, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37780 (S.D. Ohio Mar. 9, 2019).*
“The claim herein is that the Defendant, a live-in guest of his father, has a privacy interest in his father’s financial decision to obtain internet service because it is ‘indispensable to participation in modern society’.” There still is no reasonable expectation of privacy in it. United States v. McCutchin, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37499 (D. Ariz. Mar. 8, 2019).*
Defendant signed a parole agreement that he was subject to warrantless and suspicionless searches under Utah law. His parole condition wasn’t unconstitutional under Samson, and it doesn’t matter that law enforcement officers were along. Miranda v. United States, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37931 (D. Utah Mar. 9, 2019).*
Defendant avoided arrest in his house and then submitted. A protective sweep of the house was valid, and a gun found laying out was properly seized. United States v. Rogers, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37486 (N.D. Ala. Mar. 8, 2019).*
“In sum, the record establishes that the checkpoint at which Mink was stopped was not implemented in an unreasonable fashion under the Fourth Amendment. Instead, the checkpoint ‘was clearly aimed at reducing the immediate hazard posed by the presence of drunk drivers on the highways, and there was an obvious connection between the imperative of highway safety and the law enforcement practice at issue.’ Edmond, 531 U.S. at 39 (citing Sitz, 496 U.S. at 447-48). Thus, the undersigned recommends that Judge Wier deny Mink’s motion to suppress. See id. at 48 (affirming ‘the ability of police officers to act appropriately upon information that they properly learn during a checkpoint stop justified by a lawful primary purpose, even where such action may result in the arrest of a motorist for an offense unrelated to that purpose’).” United States v. Mink, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37751 (E.D. Ky. Feb. 15, 2019).*
Posted inRoadblocks|Comments Off on E.D.Ky.: DUI checkpoint was properly set up for proper motives and was reasonable
“The search in the present case occurred in 2011. Hare’s focus on Rodriguez, which was issued in 2015, is misplaced. The Fifth Circuit has ‘repeatedly held that “there is no general duty on the part of defense counsel to anticipate changes in the law.”’ United States v. Fields, 565 F.3d 290, 294 (5th Cir. 2009) (internal citations omitted). The Court further found that attorneys are not required to be clairvoyant ….” Hare v. United States, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37594 (E.D. Tex. Mar. 8, 2019).
Defendant’s actions in getting out of the car immediately, excessive nervousness, and blading his body supported the officer’s claim of reasonable suspicion to justify a frisk for weapons. The presence of loose money and a screwdriver in the car led the officer to look at a vent that had pry marks. He suspected a weapon and he was right. Based on the frisk and the observations, there was probable cause for the vehicle search. Commonwealth v. Bozeman, 2019 PA Super 70, 2019 Pa. Super. LEXIS 221 (Mar. 8, 2019).*
The search of defendant’s person at the jail after his arrest was valid as an inventory search. State v. Garcia, 302 Neb. 406 (Mar. 8, 2019).
“As set forth above, the undersigned does not agree with Defendant that the affidavit was inadequate to establish probable cause. However, even if that point is debatable, it is not debatable that the warrant was so lacking in any indicia of probable cause that the executing officers could not reasonably rely upon the neutral magistrate’s determination that probable cause existed. Nor is it arguable—at least based upon what Defendant has presented—that Agent Thompson misled Judge Moorer by providing inaccurate or incomplete information. Accordingly, even if probable cause were lacking in Judge Moorer’s determination to issue a warrant, the Leon good faith exception to the exclusionary rule applies ….” United States v. McCoy, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35820 (M.D. Ala. Mar. 6, 2019).*
Posted inGood faith exception, Inventory|Comments Off on NE: Search of the person here was valid an an inventory at the jail
Citizen informants saw a shooting from a vehicle and area video surveillance caught an image of defendant’s car. Police looked, and he was convicted felon. There was thus probable cause for defendant’s arrest. United States v. Cotto, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35544 (D.N.M. Mar. 6, 2019).*
Even if commenting on defendant’s refusal to submit to a blood draw without a search warrant was constitutional error, it was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt based on all the evidence here. State v. Jeske, 2019 Ida. LEXIS 55 (Mar. 8, 2019).*
Posted inPrivileges, Probable cause|Comments Off on D.N.M.: Citizen informants saw shooting, and video surveillance caught image of def’s car at the time, and that was PC for arrest
The right to testify at a trial doesn’t also mean that a defendant has a constitutional right to testify at a suppression hearing. Here, defendant wasn’t even present at the suppression hearing. The court finds that defense counsel wasn’t ineffective for proceeding without him. Also, defense counsel was not ineffective for admitting that defendant consented to the search. Instead, he did challenge consent. Witten v. United States, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37719 (S.D. Fla. Mar. 8, 2019).
“Since the information in the application was not stale and the citizen informant was reliable, we find ‘a person of reasonable prudence would believe a crime was committed on the premises to be searched or evidence of a crime could be located there.’” State v. Sallis, 2019 Iowa App. LEXIS 272 (Mar. 6, 2019).*
Posted inSuppression hearings|Comments Off on S.D.Fla.: There is no constitutional right of a defendant to testify at a suppression hearing
“The totality of the circumstances at the time of the arrest, as described above, were sufficient for Svajgl to believe that Nader had committed or was committing the offense of possessing child pornography.” Arguable probable cause is all that’s required for qualified immunity. Nader v. City of PapillionNader v. City of PapillionNader v. City of Papillion, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 6963 (8th Cir. Mar. 8, 2019).*
Even if defendant’s arrest was unlawful, it would not lead to suppression of evidence of an assault on a federal officer for spitting on him because the assault was attenuated from the arrest. There is also no reasonable expectation of privacy for spitting. United States v. Maestas, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36472 (D. N.M. Mar. 7, 2019).*
Carpenter doesn’t change the third-party doctrine as to IP information. United States v. McCutchin, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36811 (D. Ariz. Mar. 7, 2019).
The affidavits “are somewhat thin,” but this is deferential, not de novo, review, and, while this court might have required more, the court cannot say that there was no substantial basis for issuance of the warrant. Also, referring to the information in the affidavit as coming from a concerned citizen and not as a confidential informant was misleading, but the information was still substantial enough for probable cause. United States v. Thompson, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36951 (D. Minn. Jan. 7, 2019).*
"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.
