WaPo Editorial: Police brutality is no joke, Mr. President

WaPo Editorial: Police brutality is no joke, Mr. President:
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Minneapolis Star Tribune: Opinion: Here’s why the new Minneapolis body camera policy isn’t clearer about consequences

Minneapolis Star Tribune: Opinion: Here’s why the new Minneapolis body camera policy isn’t clearer about consequences by Adam Belz:
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CAAF: Digital SWs have to expire sometime, so here it was with def’s conviction; search after that unreasonable

A search warrant had issued for defendant’s thumb drive, but it hadn’t been searched. He was convicted of the crime for which the search warrant had issued. There are no specific time limits for when a digital search has to occur, but, at the minimum, it has to be on defendant’s conviction for that crime. United States v. Gurczynski, 2017 CAAF LEXIS 741 (C.A. A.F. July 24, 2017):
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MD: Court order to access def’s location from murder victim’s cell phone by cell site simulator was in good faith

The use of a cell site simulator to find defendant who was suspected of having taken his alleged murder victim’s cell phone was done in objective good faith because officers relied on an order to initiate the tracking. [Since Maryland recognizes traditional “standing” analysis, why didn’t they just say there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in tracking a stolen cell phone?] State v. Copes, 2017 Md. LEXIS 478 (July 28, 2017). First paragraph is a summary by the court; the rest is from the opinion:
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D.Utah: DEA SDT to Utah’s prescription database was reasonable and didn’t offend 4A; state law requires SW for access

The DEA, via authority of the AG, issued an administrative subpoena under 21 U.S.C. § 876(a) to the Utah prescription drug database for information on a particular user. Utah statute required a search warrant. The state and intervenors showed standing under Town of Chester v. Laroe Estates, Inc., 137 S.Ct. 1645, 198 L. Ed. 2d 64 (2017). The information is already under government control, albeit under state control. The search warrant v. administrative subpoena is resolved by the Supremacy Clause. The information is not subject to a reasonable expectation of privacy, and the use of an administrative subpoena is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. The subpoena will not be difficult or time consuming to respond to. United States DOJ, DEA v. Utah Dept. of Commerce, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 118470 (D. Utah July 27, 2017)
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NY3: Def’s live-in girlfriend shared premises and had apparent authority to consent

Defendant’s girlfriend with whom he lived had apparent authority to consent to a search of their joint premises. People v. Gray, 2017 NY Slip Op 05873, 2017 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 5809 (3d Dept. July 27, 2017).*

There were two search warrants issued for defendant’s cell phone for evidence of a rape of a 15 year old. The first was allegedly never signed issued December 15th and executed December 18th. The process of the search was never completed. A second warrant was issued December 19th. The search was then completed. Whatever the dispute, (1) the issue of the first warrant being unsigned was never presented to the trial court so it’s waived, and (2) the seizure under second warrant was inevitable discovery. State v. Pippin, 2017-Ohio-6970, 2017 Ohio App. LEXIS 3077 (10th Dist. July 26, 2017).*

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TX4: Seizure and search of teacher’s cell phone by school administrator was private and not subject to TX statutory exclusionary rule

Defendant was a substitute teacher, and his cell phone was used to upskirt girls in the school. Some of the students figured it out and reported it to the school administration. One of the administrators confronted defendant and he admitted he had “a problem” and the administrator asked for the phone. He gave it up, was fired, and left. The administrator turned the phone over to the police. This was a private search and seizure and not barred by the Texas statutory exclusionary rule. State v. Ruiz, 2017 Tex. App. LEXIS 6928 (Tex. App. – San Antonio July 26, 2017) (dissent).

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NH: SW jurisdictional argument has to be presented to trial court first

Defendant’s jurisdictional argument that AOL’s emails were in Virginia and not amenable to a New Hampshire search warrant wasn’t presented to the trial court, so it’s waived. State v. Bergeron, 2017 N.H. LEXIS 143 (June 30, 2017). [Note: Jurisdiction of the court over the case can usually be raised any time, but this is different.]

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DE: Stop exceeded its justification; seizure of money in backpack unreasonable

The owner of cash in this forfeiture action showed that the stop exceeded the time necessary for writing a ticket for a seat belt violation, so he prevails in the forfeiture of his cash seized from a backpack in the trunk. In re Holloman, 2017 Del. Super. LEXIS 360 (July 24, 2017).*

The officer had reasonable suspicion to detain defendant during the traffic stop that defendant was trafficking drugs when defendant appeared overly nervous, the vehicle belonged to an absent third party, defendant said he was returning from Philadelphia, a source location for narcotics, a records check showed a lengthy criminal history for assault and drug offenses, and the officer remembered prior contact with defendant and with the same vehicle that had yielded drugs and a hypodermic needle. That reasonable suspicion permitted bringing a drug dog to the scene. Commonwealth v. Green, 2017 PA Super 244, 2017 Pa. Super. LEXIS 571 (July 25, 2017).*

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CA9: Entry into glove box to get registration unreasonable where it’s all on police computers already and VIN on dash

Police officer’s entry into defendant’s glove compartment for registration was unreasonable where the VIN is visible on the dashboard (see New York v. Class) and could be run on the patrol car’s computer to retrieve the same information. It may be theoretically possible if the VIN was obscured by the damage from an accident or otherwise. United States v. Painter, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 13445 (9th Cir. July 25, 2017):
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WGRZ: Cuomo orders state review of ‘textalyzer’

WGRZ: Cuomo orders state review of ‘textalyzer’ by Jeff Prevail:
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N.-M. Ct.Crim.App.: Trial judge’s findings on deterrence for exclusion lacking, so remanded

Defendant was charged in Washington state court with child pornography after he was arrested in a prostitution sting and police obtained access to his cell phone by getting his password. The state court suppressed the search of the cell phone, and the state did not appeal, dropping the charge. Defendant was then charged under the UCMJ before a military court. He moved to suppress again, and the military judge also suppressed. The findings of deterrence for exclusion required in M.R.E. 311(a)(3) aren’t supported, so remanded for more findings. United States v. Mottino, 2017 CCA LEXIS 495 (N.-M. Ct. Crim. App. July 27, 2017) (unpublished):
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M.D.Ala.: Govt’s email SW in identity theft scheme is overbroad; applications need to be limited and resubmitted

The government’s email search applications are overbroad and don’t sufficiently protect the privacy rights of the account holders. The government, however, can limit the applications and submit them again. In the Matter of the Search of Information Associated with Fifteen Email Addresses, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117354 (M.D. Ala. July 14, 2017):
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CA8: When a gun is seized in a business, govt must show justification; here it failed to show officer safety was an issue. A gun on a shelf in a business is not exigency per se.

An undercover officer entered a tattoo parlor looking for a “person of interest” in an unrelated case. A gun was seen on a shelf in the “work area.” Officers came back. Customers were allowed in the “work area” by invitation only, but the officers couldn’t get anybody’s attention by calling out, and they walked back to knock on a door frame. Defendant doesn’t show a reasonable expectation of privacy in the area entered. They saw the handgun and seized it. After the seizure, defendant admitted that he was a felon. The government points to no facts supporting a seizure of the firearm for safety reasons, and the district court erred in denying the motion to suppress. Essentially, a gun on a shelf in a business is not exigency per se. United States v. Lewis, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 13583 (8th Cir. July 27, 2017):
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CA4: After seizure of cell phone, actual search under SW doesn’t have to happen by the date on the SW to be reasonable

The seizure then search of defendant’s cell phone under a search warrant was reasonable because the search followed the terms of the warrant. Actually analysis of the data doesn’t have to happen within the time on the face of the warrant. United States v. Carrington, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 13407 (4th Cir. July 25, 2017):
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KS: While stop and frisk must be objectively reasonable, officer’s subjective beliefs have evidentiary relevance and are “not to be ignored”

While objective facts must support a frisk, an officer’s subjective beliefs are at least relevant evidence on how objective it is. “In short, an officer’s subjective fear or belief that a stopped person is armed and presently dangerous is not individually controlling on the question of reasonableness of a frisk. It is not indispensable, but it is not to be ignored.” State v. Bannon, 2017 Kan. LEXIS 396 (July 28, 2017):
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D.R.I.: Warrantless ping of def’s cell phone was based on exigency of threatened suicide

Defendant sent texts suggesting he’d commit suicide rather than go to prison for child pornography, something he’d been involved with before. The officers had exigent circumstances to have his cell phone pinged to find him. There was a factual dispute on whether they merely seized but also searched the phone. The court credits that there was no search of the phone. United States v. Boudreau, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 119072 (D. R.I. July 27, 2017):
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WaPo: U.S. police chiefs blast Trump for endorsing ‘police brutality’

WaPo: U.S. police chiefs blast Trump for endorsing ‘police brutality’ by Cleve R. Wootson Jr. & Mark Berman:
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The Hill: It’s time for Congress to update the law governing digital surveillance

The Hill: It’s time for Congress to update the law governing digital surveillance by Jonathon Hausenschild:
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WaPo: Trump’s speech encouraging police to be ‘rough,’ annotated

WaPo: Trump’s speech encouraging police to be ‘rough,’ annotated by Philip Bump:
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