Search incident included a search under a bed near where the defendant was arrested, and cocaine was found there. The court rejects protective sweep under the bed as an alternative. United States v. Bohannon, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65446 (D. Conn. April 28, 2017).
The court credits the officer’s testimony, albeit not shown in the video, that defendant crossed the center line before the stop. The length of the stop was not unreasonable, all things considered. United States v. Prado, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66109 (M.D. Pa. May 1, 2017).*
The Idaho Parole Board didn’t have the authority to impose this search condition. Telling a person that the police were going in meant the entry wasn’t by consent. United States v. Thomas, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66609 (D. Idaho May 1, 2017).* [Query: if the Fourth Amendment governs cases in federal court, does it really matter what state law said? Yes, the Parole Board’s power is vital in state court, but not likely federal court.]
The Ohio officer entered in the license number of an Illinois vehicle but omitted a letter in smaller type on the side that made the number complete because he didn’t know it was required. The wrong LPN came back as suspended. The stop was still reasonable even though the officer was mistaken in entering the number. State v. Nevarez-Reyes, 2017-Ohio-2610, 2017 Ohio App. LEXIS 1623 (2d Dist. April 28, 2017).
Officers had a reasonable belief that the consenter had apparent authority to consent: “Detective Boutwell had had previous conversations with neighbors who observed Anders and Ms. Spitnale hurriedly moving their personal belongings out of the home and into a trailer. He also learned from Ms. Walters, the property owner and landlord of the premises, that an eviction notice had been posted on the door of the home a month earlier and that Ms. Spitnale had acknowledged receipt of the notice and was given a week by Ms. Walters to vacate the home.” State v. Anders, 2017-Ohio-2589, 2017 Ohio App. LEXIS 1603 (3d Dist. May 1, 2017).*
Posted inApparent authority, Reasonableness|Comments Off on OH2: Mistaken entry of LPN into computer that resulted in erroneous stop still made the stop reasonable
Posted inComputer and cloud searches|Comments Off on SC Media: San Francisco agency wants warrantless data from connected car crashes of self-driving cars
Overseizure under a valid warrant is hard to prove. This case makes it seem like at least an “unreasonable” overseizure, whatever that is, might still be a general search, but it doesn’t directly say so. This case is not good authority except on its limited facts. United States v. Lostutter, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 186303 (E.D. Ky. Oct. 24, 2016): Continue reading →
Posted inOverseizure|Comments Off on E.D.Ky.: An “unreasonable” overseizure as to quantity and not place might be suppressible; hard case to understand
The affidavit to support the search warrant was clearly conclusory, but the court can’t say that the officers didn’t objectively rely on the search warrants for purposes of the good faith exception. It wasn’t in “bad faith,” so it must have been in “good faith.” State v. Owens, 2017-Ohio-2590, 2017 Ohio App. LEXIS 1605 (3d Dist. May 1, 2017): Continue reading →
Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on OH3: SW was clearly conclusory, but still saved by GFE
The National Security Agency vacuumed up more than 151 million records about Americans’ phone calls last year via a new system that Congress created to end the agency’s once-secret program that collected domestic calling records in bulk, a report disclosed Tuesday.
Posted inNational security|Comments Off on NYTimes: Reined-In N.S.A. Still Collected 151 Million Phone Records in ’16
Passengers would not think they were free to leave based on the arrest and handcuffing of defendant driver. The continuation of the stop, however, was with reasonable suspicion because of furtive movements. People v. Veal, 2017 IL App (1st) 150500, 2017 Ill. App. LEXIS 286 (May 2, 2017).
Even though defendant’s parole search was conducted by police officers and not parole officers, it was conducted with a high degree of reasonable suspicion, and it was, therefore, reasonable. People v McMillan, 2017 NY Slip Op 03446, 2017 N.Y. LEXIS 1220 (May 2, 2017).*
Officers detaining plaintiff resulting in a 72 hour mental commitment hold acted with probable cause that she would hurt herself. Therefore, the action was properly dismissed. Julian v. Mission Cmty. Hosp., 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 400 (2d Dist. May 2, 2017).*
“A defendant may not take an interlocutory appeal from an order denying a motion to suppress evidence. Di Bella v. United States, 369 U.S. 121, 123-24, 82 S. Ct. 654, 7 L. Ed. 2d 614 (1962).” So, defense counsel’s failure to appeal wasn’t IAC. Defendant can’t show defense counsel was ineffective for not challenging the search of cell phones because any motion to suppress would have failed because of the independent source doctrine. The alleged unconstitutional search defendant relies on was independent. United States v. Hudson, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65365 (N.D. Fla. March 24, 2017), adopted and COA denied, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65363 (N.D. Fla. Apr. 28, 2017).
Defendant’s stop for riding a bicycle against traffic without a headlight at night was reasonable. His furtive movements after the stop justified a frisk. United States v. Morgan, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 7744 (10th Cir. May 2, 2017).*
Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on N.D.Fla.: No right in federal court to interlocutory appeal of denial of a suppression motion
$41,000 cash could be seized in execution of a warrant for marriage and immigration fraud even though its evidentiary significance wasn’t instantly obvious. United States v. Kimble, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 7776 (4th Cir. May 2, 2017): Continue reading →
Posted inPlain view, feel, smell, Scope of search|Comments Off on CA4: $41,000 cash could be seized in execution of a warrant for marriage and immigration fraud based on def’s explanation
Officers stopped defendant on the street, falsely claiming he was involved in a disturbance at a McDonald’s. The officer did know defendant was involved in a drug transaction five weeks earlier, but nothing on the day in question. Defendant’s stop was without reasonable suspicion. Commonwealth v. Parker, 2017 PA Super 132, 2017 Pa. Super. LEXIS 314 (May 1, 2017).
Defendant “argues that the search was not a valid search incident to arrest and that it was not a lawful inventory. The state agrees with defendant on both points, and concedes that the trial court erred in denying defendant’s suppression motion. We agree, accept the state’s concession, and reverse and remand.” State v. Scheler, 285 Or. App. 159, 2017 Ore. App. LEXIS 511 (April 26, 2017).*
Posted inReasonable suspicion|Comments Off on PA: Def’s stop was on a ruse and there was no RS; apparent drug sale 5 weeks earlier not RS on day in question
Reasonable suspicion that a vehicle may contain a weapon can be obviated by the number of officers controlling the scene. Here, the officers outnumbered the occupants of the car and had everybody out, so nobody was getting access to a weapon in the car. [This begs the question of what happens if any of them are released and would get back to the car and then any weapon present?] The inevitable discovery exception may apply, so the case is remanded for consideration of that. State v. Robinson, 2017 N.J. LEXIS 424 (May 1, 2017): Continue reading →
Posted inProtective sweep|Comments Off on NJ: Protective weapons search may be obviated by officers’ control of the situation
Even though recreational use of marijuana is recognized in California, smoking while driving is still an offense, and smell is at least reasonable suspicion. United States v. Pearson, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65260 (C.D. Cal. April 28, 2017).*
“Based upon Detectives Crappell’s personal knowledge gleaned from the surveillance and investigation of Defendant’s narcotics activities at the two residences, the independent corroboration of the RCI’s tips and information was sufficient to establish the RCI’s veracity, reliability, and basis of knowledge. [All this was probable cause.] … The officer’s reliance on the search warrants, as supported by the extensive and specific facts contained in the affidavits, was therefore objectively reasonable.” United States v. Druilhet, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66064 (W.D. La. March 31, 2017).*
Posted inPlain view, feel, smell, Probable cause|Comments Off on C.D.Cal.: Even though California recognizes recreational marijuana, smell is still RS of driving under influence
Although intended as a grim allegory of the pitfalls of relying on untested, proprietary algorithms to make lethal force decisions, ‘RoboCop’ has long been taken by corporations as a roadmap. And no company has been better poised than Taser International, the world’s largest police body camera vendor, to turn the film’s ironic vision into an earnest reality.
Posted inBody cameras|Comments Off on The Intercept: Taser Will Use Police Body Camera Videos ‘To Anticipate Criminal Activity’
Putting a seized iPhone into “airplane mode” until a search warrant could be issued was not a search or seizure, and it did not offend a privacy interest. What officers did was contemplated by Riley. United States v. Cain, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 63936 (D. Me. April 27, 2017): Continue reading →
Defendant’s issue on appeal is more nuanced, yet not the same as the one argued before the trial court, so there is no authority to decide it. So, the court does for the sake of argument, and it finds nexus. It also begs to know (it’s Moylan, after all) what SCOTUS meant in Leon by “conclusory” and “bare bones.” At any rate, this affidavit clearly is sufficient because it’s 29 pages detailing a drug investigation involving 50 officers and 13 wires. Joppy v. State, 2017 Md. App. LEXIS 420 (April 27, 2017). [Note: This is a problem we’ve all faced. In the haste [of some] to make out a motion to suppress, we file the motion and conduct the hearing expecting the proof to be one way, and then it’s different, perhaps raising other Fourth Amendment issues. We have to litigate all them and get a resolution for appeal. Also, resist the temptation to argue something different and better than you left on the table at the suppression hearing. If it’s waived, you can at least take a long shot at plain error, if your state even recognizes it. Mine doesn’t.]
Officers had apparent reasonable suspicion but they couldn’t communicate with the six people in the rental car because none of them spoke English. They called for another officer who did, and he arrived in 12 minutes. Based on the observations up until calling the Spanish speaking officer, the delay was reasonable. United States v. Hernandez-Hernandez, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 7409 (11th Cir. April 27, 2017).
Merely touching the yellow line in lane changes to otherwise lawfully pass two trucks was not reasonable suspicion of anything. “In the absence of a persuasive argument to the contrary, we agree with the district court that, under the circumstances, the evidence supports its ruling that Defendant safely maintained her lane as nearly as practicable.” State v. Siqueiros-Valenzuela, 2017 N.M. App. LEXIS 28 (April 25, 2017).*
Posted inReasonable suspicion|Comments Off on CA11: Officers had RS when they called for a Spanish speaking officer to translate
Defendant had warrants out and he’d called 911 and said he had a gun and he’d use it. There was reasonable suspicion for his stop before he engaged in a high speed chase. He never stopped before the chase so he wasn’t seized until actually stopped. Darling v. State, 2017 Md. App. LEXIS 422 (April 27, 2017).*
Defendant didn’t own the vehicle he was in, and that prompted the officer to run a records check. While that was going on, the officer observed a furtive movement under the driver’s seat and that justified him stopping the records check and going back to the car. The stop was extended because of defendant’s actions, and overall it was reasonable. United States v. Tanguay, 2017 DNH 083, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 63839 (D. N.H. April 27, 2017).*
Posted inReasonable suspicion, Seizure|Comments Off on MD: When officers tried to stop def he fled into a high speed chase; he wasn’t seized before the chase
CA5 for the first time concludes that an LPN check that shows the vehicle’s insurance status “unconfirmed” is reasonable suspicion for a stop. Other federal appellate courts have already so held. United States v. Broca-Martinez, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 7612 (5th Cir. April 28, 2017).
Officers had reasonable suspicion for stopping defendant in a high crime, open-air drug market, he parked his vehicle blocking a garage door and sat directly in front of no parking signs, and was seen ducking to avoid being seen. Questioning him produced two arrest warrants. State v. Patrick, 2017 Del. Super. LEXIS 199 (April 24, 2017).*
Posted inReasonable suspicion|Comments Off on CA5: LPN check showing insurance status “unconfirmed” is RS for stop
Defendant corroborated the officer’s observation of the smell of marijuana coming from the car when he admitted having smoked marijuana in the car the night before. He also corroborated the drug dog by admitting he kept marijuana where the dog found it. United States v. Mendoza, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 186224 (D. Nev. March 14, 2016), adopted, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64797 (D. Nev. Apr. 28, 2017).
There were wires on a DTO involving cocaine on Cape Cod, and defendant was involved. Lead investigators sought a stop of defendant if a traffic stop could be done without blowing their cover. A stop occurred, and a drug dog was utilized, and he found a significant amount of cutting agent. While the stop was going on, text messages were received in the wire room sent to nine recipients that a shipment of cocaine had arrived. Officers had probable cause for defendant’s drug trafficking despite the traffic offense, and that would have justified the search of the car. United States v. Mott-Frye, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 63169 (D. Mass. April 26, 2017).*
A search outside for a gun was reasonable for both public and officer safety. Officers responded to a domestic call at 2 am and there were four brothers there who concerned them. United States v. Sturdevant, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 63085 (D.Mont. April 25, 2017).*
Defendants’ uncontrolled nervousness, inability to look at the officer, and implausible travel story was reasonable suspicion to prolong the stop. Hoey v. State, 2017 Ark. App. 253, 2017 Ark. App. LEXIS 267 (April 26, 2017).
Defendant’s warranted blood draw was valid. Kressin v. State, 2017 Tex. App. LEXIS 3805 (Tex. App. – Houston (14th Dist.) April 27, 2017).*
"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.
