Exigency supported a warrantless blood draw here because defendant was in the hospital over two hours after a motorcycle accident where he was treated for his injuries and the officer got little or no time to deal with him. State v. Walker, 2014 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 777 (August 8, 2014).
The stop here was not unreasonably prolonged by the officer. In a detailed recitation of the timeline and what was developing, the court shows the reasonable suspicion developing. United States v. Collazo, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108157 (M.D. Tenn. August 6, 2014).*
Defendant’s 2255 claim that defense counsel didn’t pursue a search claim is belied by the record because he did. United States v. Oliva, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107895 (D. Ore. August 6, 2014).*
A police officer violated plaintiff’s First Amendment rights when he took her computer while she was recording their search of her house. No qualified immunity: If a citizen has a right to record the police in public, they sure do in their own house. Crago v. Leonard, 2:13-cv-531-TLN-EFB PS (E.D. Cal. August 5, 2014) (R&R): Continue reading →
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But despite these high-visibility wins for Garcia’s team, a recent report from the California Attorney General’s office paints a picture of a California-Mexico border that’s leakier than ever and reports that California has surpassed Texas as the nation’s top methamphetamine entry point.
Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on Reason: Rise of the Super Drug Tunnels: California’s Losing Fight Against Smugglers
The Supreme Court issued a remarkable number of unanimous decisions last term, and in their public remarks the justices seemed unanimous in saying that unanimity was a good thing. But is it?
Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on NYTimes: Sidebar: On Supreme Court, Does 9-0 Add Up to More Than 5-4?
Defendant’s girlfriend owned the car, and they were traveling together on vacation. Given all the facts, this passenger had standing and a reasonable expectation of privacy that society would recognize and could exclude others from the car. United States v. Deysie, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108961 (D. Ariz. August 7, 2014).
A suspicious license plate and conflicting stories justified extending the stop in this case. State v. Shook, 2014-Ohio-3403, 2014 Ohio App. LEXIS 3335 (4th Dist. July 31, 2014).*
Statements made during an illegal stop aren’t attenuated, so they are suppressed. State v. Hall, 339 Ore. 7, 115 P.3d 908 (2005) is elaborated upon. State v. Suppah, 2014 Ore. App. LEXIS 1060 (August 6, 2014).*
Oregon requires detailed inventory policies, and a pair of shorts could not be inventoried because they aren’t the kind of place where valuables are kept, even though a wallet was found in the shorts. State v. Hockersmith, 2014 Ore. App. LEXIS 1055 (August 6, 2014).* [don’t count on this working anywhere else].
Since so many federal cases held that the search incident doctrine applied until Wurie, Davis good faith pretty much seals the fate of that issue. So, the answer is no in most of the federal courts, except the First Circuit.
Posted inCell phones, Good faith exception|Comments Off on Stop The Drug War: Will Supreme Court Cell Phone Search Ruling Apply Retroactively?
Probable cause is required to install a GPS device on a vehicle. Keeylen v. State, 2014 Ind. App. LEXIS 384 (August 8, 2014):
Still, we readily conclude that probable cause, not reasonable suspicion, is the standard that must be established before the police may engage in a “search” by installing a GPS device on a vehicle and monitoring the vehicle’s movements by means of such a device. See United States v. Ortiz, 878 F. Supp. 2d 515, 533 (E.D. Pa. 2012) (observing that “the intrusion on Fourth Amendment privacy interests occasioned by GPS tracker installation and monitoring is substantial” and that there were no legitimate law enforcement needs to use such devices beyond the normal need for law enforcement and rejecting the government’s argument that reasonable suspicion was sufficient to support installation and use of GPS tracking device); United States v. Katzin, 732 F.3d 187, 201 (3d Cir. 2013) (“we hold that—absent some highly specific circumstances not present in this case—the police cannot justify a warrantless GPS search with reasonable suspicion alone.”), reh’g en banc granted, opinion vacated; State v. Sullivan, 2014 WL 1347978, 2014-Ohio-1443 (Ohio Ct. App., Apr. 3, 2014) (concluding that the installation and monitoring of a GPS device could not be justified by a showing of simple reasonable suspicion).
There was a basis for the stop, but there was none for a frisk, and the district court erred in concluding otherwise. Also, the government waive a standing argument in the district court and it can’t raise it on appeal. United States v. Noble, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 15279, 2014 FED App. 0179P (6th Cir. August 8, 2014).
Officers had reasonable suspicion that a hand to hand sale had occurred when they stopped the defendant, but a search of a cigarette box was not justified by probable cause. Commonwealth v. Stewart, 2014 Mass. LEXIS 590 (August 7, 2014).*
Also adopting the warrant requirement of Weems from McNeely in Texas is Forsyth v. State, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 8632 (Tex. App. – Eastland July 31, 2014).*
Exigent circumstances permitted an entry onto property to seize and emaciated horse and get it to a veterinarian for care. State v. Fessenden, 2014 Ore. LEXIS 560 (August 7, 2014).
The stop was 21 minutes long, but it was justified by the inconsistent stories the officer was getting from the occupants along with the normal routine of the stop. United States v. Collazo, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108157 (M.D. Tenn. August 6, 2014).*
A private investigator who unraveled an embezzlement was not a state actor, no matter what his history of providing information to law enforcement. United States v. Doxie, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 109131 (N.D. Ga. June 18, 2014).*
A new study suggests that highlighting racism in the criminal justice system is not the answer, and in fact pushes white voters in the opposite direction. Even when whites believe the current laws are too harsh, they’re less likely to support changing the law if they’re reminded that the current prison population is disproportionately black.
Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on Vox: Telling white people the criminal justice system is racist makes them like it more
Los Angeles police officials say they may have to set boundaries on hobbyist drone use because local ordinances are vague and federal regulators are unlikely to put clear-cut rules in place anytime soon.
Posted inDrones|Comments Off on LAT: LAPD want to crack down on civilian drones after police station incident
Officers went to a house looking for a probation absconder who had apparently disconnected his GPS. When they knocked, defendant opened the door, and the officer stuck his foot in the door. Perceiving defendant to be fidgety and nervous, they asked about weapons, and he had a knife and gun [it’s Alaska for God’s sake; who doesn’t?]. Sticking a foot in the door to keep it from closing crosses the threshold and is a Fourth Amendment entry. Siedentop v. State, A-11085 (Alaska App. August 8, 2014): Continue reading →
Posted inArrest or entry on arrest, Warrant requirement|Comments Off on AK: Officer sticking foot in the door to keep it from closing crosses the threshold and is a Fourth Amendment entry
On remand from SCOTUS after McNeely, the Texas Court of Appeals in San Antonio reverses itself and held that a warrant was required for defendant’s blood draw. Aviles v. State, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 8508 (Tex. App. – San Antonio August 6, 2014): Continue reading →
An officer firing an assault rifle into a fleeing stolen car operated at high speeds by a suicidal armed man did not commit a constitutional violation. There was no constitutional obligation on the part of the officer to use less than deadly force to stop him considering all the facts and circumstances. Thompson v. Mercer, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 15241 (5th Cir. August 7, 2014): Continue reading →
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A thumb drive was found with child pornography on it by a private party who turned it over to the government. The government wasn’t limited by the scope of the private party’s search as to how deep it could search. United States v. Harling, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107398 (M.D. Fla. August 4, 2014).*
The entry into defendant’s house, rather than just his garage, was reasonable under the search warrant because nexus to the house had been shown. United States v. Chaparro, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106832 (N.D. Ill. August 5, 2014).*
The DEA’s warrantless seizure of the plaintiff’s fake incense products which the DEA considered contraband but wasn’t declared such until just after the seizure didn’t state a claim for separate relief yet for a seizure for forfeiture. The government apparently still contemplates a criminal action because grand jury subpoenas were served while this appeal was pending, a fact the court mentions. Smoke Shop LLC v. United States, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 14990 (7th Cir. August 4, 2014).
Defendant was stopped and the smell of a burning blunt was obvious. Defendant’s argument that the officer couldn’t be believed is belied by the blunt in the ashtray. United States v. Pecina, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106922 (N.D. Ind. August 4, 2014).*
A Memphis apartment complex had its own security officers who stopped anybody who didn’t live there and asked for ID and what they were doing there. Defendant acted jumpy and nervous, and that led to his being frisked. This was purely a private search. United States v. Jones, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106954 (W.D. Tenn. August 5, 2014),* R&R 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107454 (W.D. Tenn. May 28, 2014).*
The search incident of defendant’s cell phone was in violation of settled law in Florida at the time it happened in 2011, and the search is suppressed. Saint-Hilaire v. State, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 12039 (Fla. 3d DCA August 6, 2014).
Officers encountered defendant and others and apparently had reasonable suspicion to inquire further. Defendant’s companion assumed the position to be frisked, but defendant instead fled, and he wriggled out of his jacket. The jacket was thus abandoned property subject to seizure. Brown v. United States, 2014 D.C. App. LEXIS 297 (August 7, 2014).*
A casino security guard reporting a patron snorting cocaine is a reasonable basis for an arrest by a LEO. State v. Hutz, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 12020 (Fla. 4th DCA August 6, 2014).*
During a Terry stop, the officer separated defendant from his backpack, and the backpack was searched about 10 minutes later when defendant was placed under arrest. The backpack was thus not on defendant’s person nor within his area of control at the time of his arrest. While the officer had probable cause to arrest defendant when he seized the backpack, it was the arrest itself that constituted the necessary authority of law to search under Wash. Const. art. I, § 7. State v. Brock, 2014 Wash. App. LEXIS 1892 (August 4, 2014).*
Even assuming a Franks violation [which there wasn’t] excising the allegedly offending information still leaves probable cause. United States v. Harris, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106235 (W.D. La. July 1, 2014).*
The CI was adequately corroborated under Aguilar-Spinelli [which Tennessee still recognizes], and that was probable cause. State v. Williams, 2014 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 767 (August 4, 2014).*
Police observation of a controlled buy is justification for a traffic stop. United States v. Cooper, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 105617 (N.D. Cal. July 31, 2014).*
D.C. helped set up defendant’s computer system, and defendant was downloading child pornography. The police got wind of that via the IP address and they went to D.C.’s house with a warrant. They found nothing but found out that defendant was using D.C.’s signal. Suppression denied. Somehow he was arguing that he had standing to challenge the search of his neighbor’s house. United States v. Heiland, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 105700 (W.D. Wis. July 31, 2014).*
2255 petitioner challenges a failure to file a motion to suppress without identifying a single issue that wasn’t raised, let alone would win. United States v. Fiel, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106088 (E.D. Va. July 31, 2014).*
"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.
