ID: Video of stop belied officer’s claim of nervousness; refusal of consent not a factor in RS

“The factors known to the officer were Neal’s nervousness, attire, and the time of day, and after substantial questioning, Neal’s refusal to consent to a search of his automobile. As noted above, none of these factors alone bears more than little significance in a reasonable suspicion analysis. Taken together, they still do not support a reasonable suspicion, even considering the officer’s experience, that Neal was engaged in criminal activity. The sequence of events resembles an experienced officer’s ‘hunch’ that something was out of the ordinary, but a hunch is not sufficient to meet the stringent requirements of the Fourth Amendment. [Sokolow] at 7. Absent other articulable facts that Neal was engaged in criminal activity, the officer’s detainment was unjustified. As such, we hold that the totality of the circumstances were inadequate to create reasonable suspicion for a drug investigation.” “Moreover, the district court observed that the videotape of the encounter did not support the officer’s testimony regarding Neal’s anxious behavior.” State v. Neal, 2016 Ida. App. LEXIS 27 (Feb. 25, 2016).

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D.N.M.: Warrant not required to enter curtilage to arrest defendant on his own porch

A search warrant is not required to arrest a suspect on his front porch, clearly curtilage. United States v. Soza, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23352 (D.N.M. Feb. 24, 2016). The court agonizes and discusses all the possibilities for 60+ pages over how to decide this case:
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IL: GJ subpoena for palm prints in cold case didn’t violate Fourth Amendment

A grand jury subpoena was used to get defendant’s palm prints while he was in prison in 2004 to see whether he was connected to a 1997 murder. The grand jury subpoena did not violate the Fourth Amendment or the state constitution. People v. Boston, 2016 IL 118661, 2016 Ill. LEXIS 270 (Feb. 26, 2016).

Defendant’s vehicle was seized within the meaning of the statute and the common meaning of the word. It is not limited, as with the state’s argument, to a seizure with the intent to forfeit. State v. Benally, 2016 N.M. LEXIS 40 (Feb. 25, 2016).

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NE: Entry into third party’s home with arrest warrants and PC def was there complied with Steagald

Local officers recognized defendant’s truck and him as having a host of warrants for his arrest as well as an order of protection out. He was believed to be potentially violent. Police saw him parked at a third party’s house, and they entered looking for defendant with an arrest warrant and probable cause to believe he was there all in compliance with Steagald. Only defendant’s rights were at issue in this case; not those of the homeowner whose place was entered. State v. Lowery, 23 Neb. App. 621, 2016 Neb. App. LEXIS 28 (Feb. 23, 2016):
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WV: State failed to show factual basis for community caretaking function stop

“In other words, there is simply no evidence from the suppression hearing that would lead us to conclude that ‘citizens [might have been] in peril’ or that the petitioner himself might have been ‘in need of some form of assistance’ so as to justify the traffic stop under the community caretaker doctrine. Ullom, 227 W.Va. at 10, 705 S.E.2d at 120. Consequently, we are compelled to find that the suspicionless traffic stop of the petitioner’s vehicle was invalid and that all evidence flowing from the stop should have been suppressed and the charges dismissed.” State v. Feicht, 2016 W. Va. LEXIS 112 (Feb. 25, 2016).

“Because Detective Butt had arguable probable cause to arrest Jones for both the Apartment Complex Incident and the Bus Stop Incident, he is entitled to the defense of qualified immunity. When the qualified immunity defense applies to a malicious prosecution claim, we must affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment.” Jones v. Butt, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 3347 (11th Cir. Feb. 25, 2016).*

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Cal.6th: Implied consent from merely driving has to come from state supreme court, not this court; driver unconscious and blood drawn

Defendant was knocked unconscious in a car wreck, and the court finds the warrantless blood draw based on the consent mandated by statute since 1999 by merely getting a driver’s license was invalid. There was no manifestation of actual consent because he was unconscious. Implied consent is going to have to come from the state supreme court, not this court. People v. Arredondo, 2016 Cal. App. LEXIS 153 (6th Dist. Feb. 26, 2016)*:
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E.D.N.Y.: Apple can’t be forced to unlock an iPhone; not the California case

Apple wins first encryption case in E.D.N.Y. Court refuses to order phone opened, via techcrunch. In re Order Requiring Apple, Inc. to Assist in the Execution of a Search Warrant, 15-MC-1902 (JO) (E.D.N.Y. Feb. 29, 2016)( (USMJ Orenstein):
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NYTimes: New York Police Faulted by Agency for Unlawful Searches

NYTimes: New York Police Faulted by Agency for Unlawful Searches by Al Baker:
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Washington Free Beacon: 2002 Letter Lays Out Bush’s Legal Authority For Conducting Surveillance After 9/11; Yoo letter declassified

Washington Free Beacon: 2002 Letter Lays Out Bush’s Legal Authority For Conducting Surveillance After 9/11 [Yoo letter declassified] by Morgan Chalfant:
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Global Research: NSA Spying, Privacy and the Fourth Amendment: The Views of U.S. Presidential Candidates

Global Research: NSA Spying, Privacy and the Fourth Amendment: The Views of U.S. Presidential Candidates by Michael T. Bucci:
What are the positions of U.S. presidential candidates on NSA domestic spying, personal privacy and the Fourth Amendment?
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CA2: Florence on jail strip searches was an intervening change in law allowing undoing a prior order

Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of County of Burlington was an intervening change in law that permitted the district court to undo a jail strip search class action judgment. In re Nassau County Strip Search Cases, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 3427 (2d Cir. Feb. 26, 2016), prior appeal 461 F.3d 219 (2d Cir. 2006).

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NE: Failure to announce entry to execute a misd warrant on ptf’s grandson survived summary judgment; interests rule serves are important

The trial court erred in granting summary judgment for officers who entered plaintiff’s home to arrest her grandson without announcing and with force. A question of fact is presented on the failure to announce, and it serves important interests. The fact they didn’t pull their guns didn’t matter. Waldron v. Roark, 292 Neb. 889, 2016 Neb. LEXIS 27 (Feb. 26, 2016):
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D.Conn.: As much as everybody hates the “third party doctrine,” it’s still good law, and CSLI accessible by subpoena

The government obtained 22 days of defendant’s CSLI information by subpoena and not search warrant, and, as much as the third party doctrine is despised by the commentators, it remains good law today. United States v. Chavez, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22312 (D.Conn. Feb. 24, 2016):
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IN: State failed to even attempt to justify inventory; reversed

Defendant was arrested with his car on a parking lot for driving on a suspended DL, and the car had a broken windshield and bumper. The state failed to prove justification for an inventory, and it had the burden. Wilford v. State, 2016 Ind. LEXIS 142 (Feb. 26, 2016):
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WI: Exigency permitted warrantless blood draw of apparent heroin OD, even though he was given antidote

Officers and paramedics were called by friends to a man not breathing in a house. Defendant was found and it had signs of a drug overdose. His blood was drawn to test it, and he was given an injection of naxolone to counteract heroin-like drugs, and he started breathing. The blood test came back with morphine in his system. The blood draw was justified by a serious medical emergency to determine what they were dealing with. It would have taken two hours to get a search warrant. Seeking the source of the OD in the house, officers found heroin. State v. Parisi, 2016 WI 10, 2016 Wisc. LEXIS 10 (Feb. 24, 2016):
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CA8: Execution of white collar SW with bulletproof vests, sidearms, and sirens wasn’t unreasonable

Execution of a white collar search warrant by officers of the SBA and IRS with bulletproof vests, sidearms, and sirens blaring was not unreasonable as a matter of law. Policy required they be armed during the raid. While a couple of employees were pushed during the raid, the raid supervisors weren’t shown to have authorized it. Summary judgment for government affirmed. Mountain Pure, LLC v. Roberts, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 3290 (8th Cir. Feb. 25, 2016).

Defendant was the victim of a robbery attempt and shooting at apartment door caught on video. The robber got away. The police had consent to use a dual purpose dog in the common areas of the apartment building looking for the suspect, and there were shadows on the windows of the unoccupied first floor apartment. At the hospital, she signed a general consent to search for evidence related to the attack on her. She questioned the breadth of the consent form, and she was told it was to look for evidence of the shooting and one specific thing, and she agreed. In plain view was an open shopping bag with drugs in it. United States v. Hardy, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23133 (D.N.H. Feb. 25, 2016).*

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IA: Probation pre-consent to search sex offender’s cell phone was valid

Defendant’s probation search conditions included consent to search his property, and his cell phone was properly searched. “An additional consideration supports our conclusion Barth consented to the search of his cellular phone for non-investigatory purposes. Barth was participating in the sex offender treatment program. The ‘sex offender treatment program was established for bona fide rehabilitative purposes.’ State v. Washington, 832 N.W.2d 650, 660 (Iowa 2013). ‘Rehabilitation is a legitimate penological interest that must be weighed against [a probationer’s] liberty.’ Id. Participation in the sex offender treatment program for rehabilitative purposes ‘may impose difficult choices on defendants to serve a valid penological goal without crossing the line into unconstitutional compulsion.’ Id. Here, Barth entered into the Sex Offender Treatment Program Contract/Supervision Agreement, which required Barth’s consent to search his cellular phone. The purpose of the consent to search was to allow the Department of Correctional Services to ensure Barth was not engaging in conduct that might otherwise be lawful (e.g., viewing pornography) but contrary to his rehabilitative goals. [¶] Even if Barth had not consented to the search of his cellular phone, the search of his cellular phone was authorized by the special needs doctrine.” State v. Barth, 2016 Iowa App. LEXIS 144 (Feb. 24, 2016).

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E.D.N.Y.: Losing one’s cell phone at the scene of the crime is a loss of any reasonable expectation of privacy in it

A defendant who loses his cell phone at the scene of a crime has abandoned it by not safeguarding his privacy. This was 2009, and, besides, Riley doesn’t apply to abandoned phones. United States v. Quashie, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21841 (E.D.N.Y. Feb. 13, 2016).

The rough neighborhood with three guns seized in recent weeks there and a shots fired call, gang turf struggles in that block, and defendant’s heavy coat not matching the weather was all reasonable suspicion for defendant’s patdown. United States v. Dortch, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21191 (D.Neb. Feb. 19, 2016),* R&R 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 176385 (D. Neb. Nov. 4, 2015).*

Defense counsel was not ineffective for not moving to suppress a search that was, by all accounts, by defendant’s mother’s consent. Moreover, there is evidence that the gun was in plain view. Since he could not win a motion to suppress, there was no prejudice. Beale v. United States, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22522 (E.D.N.C. Feb. 24, 2016).*

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Cal.2d: Even if Civil Code § 56.26 on medical record privacy had been violated, evidence not excludable in medical disciplinary proceeding

Even if Civil Code § 56.26 on medical record privacy had been violated, it would not exclude evidence in a medical board proceeding for violating billing standards. The subpoena is enforced as limited by time period. Fett v. Medical Bd. of Cal., 2016 Cal. App. LEXIS 149 (2d Dist. Feb. 3, 2016) (published Feb. 26, 2016).

There was probable cause that defendant’s computer would contain evidence of child sexual abuse based on the reports of an alleged victim and her family. While the location of the computer was not where the abuse occurred because defendant had moved, it is reasonable to conclude that the computer was taken with him. United States v. Neuhard, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22772 (E.D.Mich. Feb. 25, 2016).*

Government’s statement that it was not using the product of the search makes the motion to suppress moot. United States v. Hollenbeck, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 176383 (W.D.N.Y. Dec. 15, 2015),* adopted 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22458 (W.D.N.Y. Feb. 23, 2016).*

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eff.org: A Texas City Rescinds “No Cost” License Plate Reader Deal For Being “Big-Brotherish”

eff.org: A Texas City Rescinds “No Cost” License Plate Reader Deal For Being “Big-Brotherish”:
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