CA2: Even if SW was unlawful, def’s statement was attenuated

Even if the search warrant was unlawful for failure to specify the apartment to be searched, defendant’s statement was an intervening independent act of free will in disclosing the location of a CD of child pornography. The exclusionary rule would not be applied. United States v. Asmodeo, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 6590 (2d Cir. Mar. 5, 2019)*:
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Cato blog: Unconscious People Can’t Consent to Police Searches

Cato blog: Unconscious People Can’t Consent to Police Searches by Ilya Shapiro and Patrick Moran:
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Biometric Update: Constitutional rights group recommends laws limiting facial biometrics use by U.S. law enforcement

Biometric Update: Constitutional rights group recommends laws limiting facial biometrics use by U.S. law enforcement by Chris Burt:
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D.Mass.: Realtime CSLI on exigency was reasonable under Carpenter

Warrantless realtime CSLI for exigency did not violate Carpenter. Indeed, exigencies are contemplated by Carpenter. [Aside from the fact Carpenter came after all this happened.] Defendant also consented to other seizures. United States v. Saemisch, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32706 (D. Mass. Mar. 1, 2019). As to the CSLI:
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D.N.J.: Suggestion def look in console for insurance papers revealing a gun in plain view wasn’t a search

During defendant’s stop, he couldn’t find his insurance papers. Defendant rummaged through papers here and there. The officer suggested defendant look in the center console again, and this time the officer saw a gun. The suggestion he look in the console was neither a search nor unconstitutional. United States v. Campbell, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32074 (D. N.J. Feb. 28, 2019).

Defendant didn’t have standing to challenge seizure of records from the accountants or other corporations. There was probable cause for the other warrants issued on affidavits with a high level of detail. United States v. Ganos, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32465 (E.D. Wis. Feb. 28, 2019).*

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N.D.Ohio: PC shown: “the Court is concerned with what the Affidavit actually contains, not what a critic thinks it should contain”

On the totality of circumstances, the information from the anonymous CI was adequately cooroborated to give probable cause. “Further, Defendant criticizes the Search Warrant for what it lacks — no mention of others residing at Property and no detail about research into Bureau of Motor Vehicle and police report records. Again, this argument fails as the Court is concerned with what the Affidavit actually contains, not what a critic thinks it should contain. United States v. Thomas, 605 F.3d 300, 309 (6th Cir. 2010).” United States v. Baker, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32249 (N.D. Ohio Feb. 28, 2019).

Defendant’s guilty plea waived any search claim for collateral review. “Even assuming that the search warrant obtained following the warrantless entry into Dessoye’s home was invalid, the child pornography on Dessoye’s thumb drives would inevitably have been discovered.” United States v. Dessoye, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32762 (W.D. La. Mar. 1, 2019).*

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NY Times: Disputed N.S.A. Phone Program Is Shut Down, Aide Says

NY Times: Disputed N.S.A. Phone Program Is Shut Down, Aide Says by Charlie Savage:

WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency has quietly shut down a system that analyzes logs of Americans’ domestic calls and texts, according to a senior Republican congressional aide, halting a program that has touched off disputes about privacy and the rule of law since the Sept. 11 attacks.
The agency has not used the system in months, and the Trump administration might not ask Congress to renew its legal authority, which is set to expire at the end of the year, according to the aide, Luke Murry, the House minority leader’s national security adviser.

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D.Kan.: Exclusionary rule inapplicable to revo of federal supervised release

The exclusionary rule does not apply to searches leading to revocation of federal supervised release. United States v. Tran, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32836 (D. Kan. Mar. 1, 2019).

“Defendant speculates, based on information in a search warrant application, that the grand jury may have heard prejudicial information regarding gang activity. This claim is plainly insufficient to warrant intrusion into grand jury proceedings. Thus, defendant’s request for disclosure or Court review of grand jury material is denied.” United States v. Watkins, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31460 (W.D. N.Y. Jan. 18, 2019),* adopted, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30482 (W.D. N.Y. Feb. 26, 2019).*

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D.Minn.: Def made a proper showing for a Rule 17(c) subpoena for discovery for his unique 4A claim

Defendant has made a prima facie case to get a Rule 17(c) subpoena for evidence for his suppression hearing. His suppression theory is unique, but not frivolous, so the court is going to grant leeway to permit discovery. United States v. Shipton, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33014 (D. Minn. Mar. 1, 2019):
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S.D.W.Va.: Officers falsely swore def’s friend “lived or stayed there”; she visited after a small heroin deal, and there was no PC at all

Defendant was visited by a friend after an $80 heroin sale. There was no nexus to defendant’s house by the friend who’d only visited a few times over a long period of time. The police also falsely swore that she “lived or stayed there” and later admitted their mistake. There was no probable cause at all for the search, and the motion to suppress is granted. United States v. Sizemore, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33074 (S.D. W.Va. Mar. 1, 2019):
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FL2: Search incident for being in a city park after hours unreasonable

A custodial arrest for being in a city park after closing time and a search incident was invalid. State law cautions against search incident for noncriminal violations. Nelson v. State, 2019 Fla. App. LEXIS 3159 (Fla. 2d DCA Mar. 1, 2019).

Whether to file a motion to suppress is a strategic call by defense counsel, and one would have had to be successful and have a strong likelihood of changing the outcome to be ineffective assistance. Here, the officer brought the CI to the issuing magistrate for examination on issuance of the search warrant. While the record isn’t perfectly clear the CI was, there was probable cause on the totality. People v. Wise, 2019 IL App (2d) 160611, 2019 Ill. App. LEXIS 109 (Feb. 28, 2019).*

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CA7: RS existed for defs’ stop despite others had been stopped, too: “Terry does not authorize broad dragnets, but it also does not require perfection or precision.”

On the totality, officers had reasonable suspicion for a Terry stop of defendants for being involved in an armed robbery. He was near the scene, walking away, although he matched the description by race and gender. Moreover, two other men had already been stopped, but the officers couldn’t be sure they had the right persons. United States v. Keycie, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 6331 (7th Cir. Mar. 1, 2019):
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S.D.Fla.: IAC claim approached similar to GFE for the defense lawyer under Strickland

Defendant filed a 2255 that defense counsel was ineffective for not filing a motion to suppress the search of his RV on the curtilage in a child pornography case. The warrant mentioned curtilage. The case law goes both ways, and the court cannot say that a reasonably competent lawyer was ineffective, applying a form of good faith exception analysis: “Ultimately, some of Petitioner’s arguments on the issue of curtilage might be persuasive were this Court hearing the matter as a motion to suppress. However, as stated above, this is a habeas petition, not a Fourth Amendment motion. At this stage, Petitioner has the burden to show that his arguments are so strong that no competent lawyer would have thought otherwise. Petitioner cannot meet this burden with respect to curtilage because potentially viable arguments existed on both sides.” Alternatively, however, the automobile exception would have applied to the RV because it wasn’t set up as parked living quarters. Spriggs v. United States, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33164 (S.D. Fla. Feb. 28, 2019).*

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LA2: Failure to return papers to the clerk or court does not warrant suppression

The searching officer’s failure to file the return of the paperwork with the court is not a constitutional violation requiring suppression of the search warrant. State v. Hardyway, 2019 La. App. LEXIS 320 (La. App. 2 Cir. Feb. 27, 2019).

Defendant is a doctor accused in 166 counts for unlawful distributions of controlled substances and health care fraud. (a) His motion to suppress on Franks grounds fails because there is no sufficient offer of proof. “Here, Judge Schroeder found that SA Budz’s affidavit contained 70 ‘descriptive paragraphs of his interviews of various employees of the defendant who described in detail the various practice procedures that were utilized in the defendant’s medical practice for issuing prescriptions, bills to insurance companies and patient notekeeping,’ and that these paragraphs, in totality, more than sufficed to provide probable cause.” (b) The warrant was sufficiently particular because it listed things and referred to the statutes allegedly violated. (c) Lack of a search protocol is not unconstitutional. United States v. Gosy, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31389 (W.D. N.Y. Feb. 28, 2019).*

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S.D.Ind.: Once there’s an indictment, a motion to suppress evidence is used rather than a motion for return of property

“Where, as here, an indictment has been filed and criminal proceedings are ongoing, the proper means for seeking return of seized property and to challenge the constitutionality of a search is a motion to suppress evidence.” United States v. Flick, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31742 (S.D. Ind. Feb. 28, 2019).

There was probable cause for the search warrant of defendant’s package in transit, and his motion to dismiss is denied. United States v. Spurlock, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31877 (M.D. La. Feb. 28, 2019).*

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VT: When RS for a traffic stop dissipates, the stop must end

The officer had reasonable suspicion that defendant was driving under the influence, and that justified the stop and getting defendant out of the car. It became evident, however, that reasonable suspicion dissipated, and continuing the stop after that required suppression of what was found continuing it. State v. Dubaniewicz, 2019 VT 13, 2019 Vt. LEXIS 33 (Mar. 2, 2019).

A driver may consent to a blood draw or a breath test. Refusal to consent to a blood draw then requires a warrant. Diaz v. Bernini, 2019 Ariz. LEXIS 60 (Feb. 28, 2019).

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N.D.Ill.: Officer’s embellishments of drugs involved told to others didn’t undermine the real PC that existed to stop def

Defendant’s conversations were picked up on a wiretap and concerned his marijuana dealing and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Despite officer embellishments in other types of drugs defendant was involved in shared with other officers (heroin, etc.), the court finds that probable cause still existed for the stop and search based on information from the wiretap. United States v. Edwards, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30537 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 27, 2019):
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N.D.Cal.: Despite 2011 violations of statute on real-time CSLI and trap and trace orders, GFE requires no suppression for isolated negligence

Seven years before Carpenter, Salinas CA police violated statute in getting real-time CSLI and a trap and trace order to find defendant after a robbery. The statutory violation was negligence, but it was isolated and not systemic, and the other officers involved didn’t know about it. A search warrant obtained on that information was saved by the good faith exception. United States v. Chavez, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33210 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 2, 2019). This case has an excellent discussion of application of the good faith exception despite officer negligence in not knowing the law:
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MT: Admin search of def’s licensed commercial kennel on her residential property was reasonable

Defendant had a licensed commercial kennel on residential property. The local government’s inspection complied with Burger v. New York because the search was within the scope of the regulatory scheme. State v. Warren, 2019 MT 49, 2019 Mont. LEXIS 67 (Feb. 26, 2019):
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CA9: Credibility findings re drug dog and handler are binding on appeal

Defendant’s package was opened in transit with a warrant after a dog sniff. After a three day suppression hearing, the district court found the dog handler credible and there was no misrepresentation of facts concerning the dog’s accuracy or training. On appeal, the defendant doesn’t get to revisit credibility findings. Franks burden not met. United States v. Kailihiwa, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 6105 (9th Cir. Feb. 28, 2019).

After indictment and during the trial preparation stage the government obtained an additional search warrant and admits that forensic examination will take a while. Add to that: one of its experts is under internal investigation. A continuance is granted. United States v. Carter, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30859 (W.D. Ky. Feb. 27, 2019).*

Police officer’s off duty conduct involved illegal searches and surveillance of his ex-wife, and that can form the basis of discipline. City of Aurora v. Ass’n of Prof’l Police Officers, 2019 IL App (2d) 180375, 2019 Ill. App. LEXIS 106 (Feb. 27, 2019).*

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