Under the collective knowledge doctrine, the officer actually making the stop doesn’t have to know much of anything that the officers with knowledge know. Nothing needs to be communicated, other than the identity of the person or car stopped. There was reasonable suspicion for the stop held by those with knowledge. United States v. Beachem, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 179951 (N.D. Ind. Oct. 19, 2018 10:45:15 p.m. CDT).
Defendant waived the search issue of his cell phone by pleading guilty. Even if it could be raised, by all appearances, he abandoned the phone in flight, so the issue had no chance of success. United States v. Bradbury, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 176374 (E.D. Wash. Oct. 15, 2018).*
Posted inAbandonment, Collective knowledge|Comments Off on N.D.Ind.: Collective knowledge doctrine doesn’t require any specifics be held by officer making the stop
The trial court erred in suppressing the search under the search warrant. There were controlled buys and a corroborated informant, and that was enough for probable cause. People v. Higgins, 2018 Mich. App. LEXIS 3355 (Oct. 18, 2018).
Defendant’s right brake light didn’t work and that was a reasonable basis for the stop under Texas law. Saenz v. State, 2018 Tex. App. LEXIS 8524 (Tex. App. – El Paso Oct. 17, 2018).*
Police responding to a medical emergency found defendant unconscious in his bathroom with a belt tourniquet at his arm and a brown liquid in a syringe. That was not a sign of diabetes shock. It was reasonable under Eighth Circuit precedent for the officer to make a limited search of the immediate area and defendant’s bag to determine the source of his unconsciousness. United States v. Kempf, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 179232 (D. S.D. Oct. 18, 2018): Continue reading →
Posted inCommunity caretaking function|Comments Off on D.S.D.: Community caretaking function permitted search of unconscious person’s bag for source of his condition
Once a dog alerted on a car during a stop that was valid up to that time, putting the dog inside the car wasn’t unreasonable. The officers had probable cause at that point. People v. Bailey, 2018 CO 84 (Oct. 15, 2018).
CSLI obtained prior to Carpenter was validly obtained under Krull. United States v. Remus, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 179405 (D. Neb. Sep. 27, 2018).*
Casual conversation with a motorist during a traffic stop isn’t prohibited by Rodriguez even though the officer is hoping to pick up on something supporting reasonable suspicion. United States v. Kash, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 29057 (9th Cir. Oct. 16, 2018).
Defendant’s effort for return of rents paid on his forfeited rental property after the forfeiture fails. It isn’t a violation of the plea agreement or Rule 41(g). United States v. Sperow, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 179453 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 18, 2018).*
“Cruz next present a series of direct challenges, obviously hoping one will stick. He generally asserts that his ‘conviction and sentence are violative of the First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments to the Constitution.’ (DE 32, at 7). He claims violations of ‘his right to freedom of speech and to keep and bear arms and to petition, his right to be free of unreasonable search and seizure, his right to due process of law, his rights to counsel, to jury trial, to confrontation of witnesses, to present a defense, and to compulsory process, and his right to be free of cruel and unusual punishment under the Constitution.’ Id. …. Nowhere throughout his many submitted pages (as well as in reply) does Cruz append any meat to these claims’ bones. Quite to the contrary, he says he merely ‘pleaded [them] to protect the record … in the event of a change in law or new facts or circumstances which come to light during the litigation of this motion.’ Id. at 17.” United States v. Castenada, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 179360 (E.D. Ky. Oct. 11, 2018).*
Posted inBurden of pleading|Comments Off on E.D.Ky.: Pleading a constitutional violation without saying how preserves nothing for review
Officer’s testimony varied sufficiently from his reports of his reasonable suspicion for the stop and detention that it’s just unreliable. Motion to suppress granted. It apparently started with the justification for the stop as inoperable tag lights [how many times have we heard that?], but he admitted in testimony that it was working after shown a photograph. Then the windows were so tinted that he couldn’t see the passenger he claimed he saw had no seatbelt on. United States v. Gordon, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177610 (N.D. Miss. Oct. 16, 2018): Continue reading →
Posted inReasonable suspicion|Comments Off on N.D.Miss.: Officer’s credibility on cause for stop fails because the tag light was working and he couldn’t see in car
Officers could enter defendant’s driveway to conduct a knock-and-talk, and they didn’t “linger” long in violation of Jardines. They smelled marijuana coming from the garage, and that was sufficient to get a search warrant. Defendant’s argument about the sign on his property denying consent or the ability to stay on the property wasn’t presented to the trial court, so it’s waived for appeal. State v. Piland, 2018 N.C. App. LEXIS 1031 (Oct. 16, 2018): Continue reading →
Posted inCurtilage, Knock and talk|Comments Off on NC: Officers doing a knock-and-talk didn’t unreasonably “linger” in violation of Jardines
As an “intended recipient” of a parcel, defendant has no standing. His name isn’t on the package as sender or recipient. United States v. Williams, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177669 (D. Haw. Oct. 16, 2018).
Officers could reasonably believe that there was a person in distress inside the house when they arrived on a domestic disturbance call based on what they were told and hearing crying inside. United States v. Sanders, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 176401 (N.D. Iowa Oct. 15, 2018).*
Plaintiff is a probationer who had a police officer show at his house to get a breath sample per his probation conditions. Despite repeated knocking and use of the police car’s PA system, plaintiff didn’t come to the door and the officer hung out for 90 minutes four or five times going around the house knocking on windows and trying to get plaintiff to come up. Finally, plaintiff did and he blew .000. Plaintiff was accused of not complying with the demand for the breath sample. The officer’s conduct of spending 90 minutes on the curtilage violated Jardines and the Fourth Amendment despite plaintiff’s probation status. However, it did not violate clearly established law and the officer gets qualified immunity. Brennan v. Dawson, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 28895 (6th Cir. Oct 15, 2018).
Posted inCurtilage, Qualified immunity|Comments Off on CA6: Officer spent 90 minutes at plaintiff’s house on the curtilage trying to get him to come out for a probation breath test; that violated 4A but officer gets QI
Defendant waived any reasonable expectation of privacy in his cell phone by leaving it at the crime scene. Tolbert v. State, 2018 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 65 (Oct. 15, 2018).
The child pornography affidavit for search warrant wasn’t a “model of clarity” but it did show probable cause and it was timely. United States v. Linton, 2018 CCA LEXIS 492 (A.F. Ct. Crim. App. Oct. 12, 2018).*
Unauthorized collection of DNA from a juvenile offender is subject to suppression and it should be purged from CODIS. Casillas v. People, 2018 CO 78M, 2018 Colo. LEXIS 832 (Oct. 15, 2018).
A routine traffic stop outside of a municipal officer’s jurisdiction that “did not present an immediate clear and present danger to persons or property and where he did not otherwise have probable cause to do so” was subject to suppression. Commonwealth v. Bergamasco, 2018 PA Super 280 (Oct. 16, 2018).*
Posted inArrest or entry on arrest, DNA|Comments Off on CO: Unauthorized taking of juvenile’s DNA requires suppression
CSLI obtained in 2012 and 2015 was lawful at the time before Carpenter, so the good faith exception applies. (The case was GVR’d because of Carpenter.) “We adopt the analytical framework set forth in Chavez. Appellant’s CSLI was acquired in the same way used by the government in Chavez. … Appellant does not contend that the statutes were invalid at the time the Commonwealth obtained his CSLI in 2012 and 2015 because Carpenter was decided in 2018. Thus, it necessarily follows that both the detectives and the Commonwealth’s attorney had a reasonable, good faith belief that their actions were constitutional at the time. Accordingly, the exclusionary rule does not apply as there was no police or governmental conduct that needed to be deterred at the time it occurred.” Reed v. Commonwealth, 2018 Va. App. LEXIS 275 (Oct. 16, 2018).
Even after Class v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 798 (2018), an unconditional guilty plea waives search and seizure claims. “So under Class, Torres may not raise a Fourth Amendment challenge on appeal, given his voluntary unconditional guilty plea. See United States v. Tineo-Gonzalez, 893 F.3d 64, 66 (1st Cir. 2018) (recognizing post-Class that ‘[b]y pleading guilty at trial, [the defendant] waived his right to challenge the denial of a motion to suppress’).” United States v. Torres, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 28948 (5th Cir. Oct 15, 2018).
Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on CA5: Unconditional guilty plea waives 4A claims
From 1919-2014, it violated Michigan law to have an unlicensed dog over six months old, and state law and city ordinance permitted officials to kill them. In 2014, that changed. Plaintiffs became squatters in an abandoned house in Detroit, and police alleged that they did a $10 drug deal with an informant in November 2015. Police came to arrest and search, and they summarily shot plaintiffs’ dogs. They had three in the house, and one plaintiff was there alone with them, trying to put them up before the police entered. One passive dog was shot, and another was shot as it charged up the basement stairs showing its teeth. One was shot through a bathroom door. The defendants argued that the dogs were contraband, but they were not. Police cannot summarily kill the dogs of persons living in the places police search without violating the Fourth Amendment. Smith v. City of Detroit, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 28890 (6th Cir. Oct 15, 2018): Continue reading →
Posted inSeizure|Comments Off on CA6: Police cannot summarily kill dogs in houses they search
Existence of work-related injuries or illnesses do not translate directly into reasonable suspicion that an OSHA violation occurred. The district court was correct in quashing the inspection warrant for lack of a proper showing, without prejudice to OSHA establishing the proper standard. United States v. Mar-Jac Poultry, Inc., 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 28400 (11th Cir. Oct. 9, 2018): Continue reading →
Posted inAdministrative search|Comments Off on CA11: Work-related injuries don’t necessarily translate into OSHA violations; records request quashed as overbroad
Fifteen murder and sexual assault cases have been solved since April with a single genealogy website. This is how GEDmatch went from a casual side project to a revolutionary tool.
Posted inDNA|Comments Off on NYTimes: How an Unlikely Family History Website Transformed Cold Case Investigations
A motion for return of property after a forfeiture order is final is moot. State v. Housley, 2018-Ohio-4140, 2018 Ohio App. LEXIS 4467 (2d Dist. Oct. 12, 2018).
There was no Franks violation. Officers got permission from a child to look for a parent, which they did, and there was no deception. There were some minor omissions, but they weren’t material to anything. State v. Brittain, 2018-Ohio-4136, 2018 Ohio App. LEXIS 4457 (2d Dist. Oct. 12, 2018).*
The officer’s training and experience in intoxicated drivers was relevant and significant to the probable cause showing in the affidavit for defendant’s BAC. He was not a mere layperson making an observation as defendant says. State v. Law, 2018 Del. Super. LEXIS 437 (Oct. 11, 2018).
Officers entered defendant’s house with an arrest warrant for him and a third party. [After a long roundabout discussion:] The entry was justified under Payton as to defendant and with hot pursuit as to the other, aside from his status in the premises. State v. Daboni, 2018-Ohio-4155, 2018 Ohio App. LEXIS 4475 (4th Dist. Oct. 5, 2018).*
Posted inArrest or entry on arrest, Probable cause|Comments Off on DE: Officer’s training and experience in intoxicated drivers was relevant and significant to the PC showing
"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.
