Ars Technica: Obama administration says the world’s servers are ours by David Kravets:
In essence, President Barack Obama’s administration claims that any company with operations in the United States must comply with valid warrants for data, even if the content is stored overseas. It’s a position Microsoft and companies like Apple say is wrong, arguing that the enforcement of US law stops at the border.
Where the defendant lives on the property where he conducts his business, the curtilage of home is lesser because the property has been opened for business. Here, defendant lived on the property of his junkyard. State v. Hiebert, 2014 Ida. App. LEXIS 69 (July 10, 2014):
Continue reading
After remedial orders to abate a nuisance have been entered, a warrantless entry to abate the nuisance is reasonable. Embassy Realty Invs. v. City of Cleveland, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 13256, 2014 FED App. 0506N (6th Cir. July 10, 2014):
Continue reading
It is settled that consent from a person with apparent authority to consent is as valid as from one with actual authority. Connecticut declines to depart from the general rule. State v. Buie, 2014 Conn. LEXIS 241 (July 22, 2014) (per curiam).*
During a police pursuit, the officer saw something thrown from defendant’s car. He learned a little later it was a gun, and that was probable cause to stop and search the car. United States v. Christian, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 13070 (4th Cir. July 10, 2014).*
Two months wasn’t too stale in a child pornography case. Defendant’s Franks challenge fails for lack of any sufficient allegation. State v. Fuller, 2014 UT 29, 2014 Utah LEXIS 93 (July 11, 2014).*
When Enough is Enough: Location Tracking, Mosaic Theory, and Machine Learning, Steven M. Bellovin, Renee M. Hutchins, Tony Jebara, Sebastian Zimmeck, 8 NYU J.L. & Liberty 556 (2014). Abstract:
Continue reading
In a comprehensive opinion, the Vermont Supreme Court held Friday that pre-conviction DNA testing of arrestees after arraignment violates the search provision of the Vermont Constitution. It failed every point of analysis. State v. Medina, 2014 VT 69, 2014 Vt. LEXIS 71 (July 11, 2014):
Continue reading
Defendant had an accident and was being detained because he appeared under the influence. His vehicle was searched, and a plastic bag inside a plastic bag was seen. The prosecution having produced no evidence that the officer had reason to suspect that the bag contained drugs, the plain view doctrine’s “immediately apparent” prong wasn’t satisfied. People v. Santana, 2014 V.I. LEXIS 40 (V.I. Super. July 8, 2014).
Defendant’s motion to suppress could have been denied just because it “is brief, generic, and devoid of factual or legal argument specifically targeting or individually addressing any of the five search warrants at issue.” On the merits, there is probable cause for each of them. United States v. Myers, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94449 (D. Minn. June 24, 2014).
Straddling the centerline making a left turn at 3 am for one second wasn’t a violation of the city lane change ordinance, so the stop was without reasonable suspicion. State v. Maxwell, 2014-Ohio-3062, 2014 Ohio App. LEXIS 3001 (2d Dist. July 11, 2014).*
Arrest on outstanding warrants for drugs and violation of a protective order does not give officers the authority to conduct a search incident. Commonwealth v. White, 469 Mass. 96, 12 N.E.3d 348 (2014).
Pro se plaintiff’s Fourth Amendment claims were already adjudicated in state court, so issue preclusion prevents federal court from determining them. Ochner v. Stedman, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 13077 (3d Cir. July 10, 2014).*
Defendant’s car was stopped for driving the wrong way on a one way street. Defendant made furtive movements inside, and he was ordered out. Asked what he was doing, he said he was hiding a bag which he produced when “asked.” This was all reasonable. City of Westlake v. Gordon, 2014-Ohio-3031, 2014 Ohio App. LEXIS 2964 (8th Dist. July 10, 2014).*
The frisk of defendant was justified because he’d lied about having a gun on him once before. When the frisk produced a small box that could not have possibly contained a weapon, the search of the box was unjustified. State v. Russell, 2014 Wash. LEXIS 489 (July 10, 2014).
Installation of the GPS here was with a warrant and with probable cause, or good faith in any event. There is no valid claim that there were geographical limits on where the GPS could be monitored. United States v. Faulkner, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94443 (D. Minn. June 20, 2014), adopted 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 93764 (D. Minn. July 10, 2014).*
Defendant’s stop was justified because his headlights weren’t on, and the frisk of the car was justified because of his furtive movements inside. United States v. Graham, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94043 (D. N.J. July 9, 2014).*
Because of decriminalization of one oz or less of marijuana in Massachusetts, the smell of unburnt marijuana alone is also not probable cause for search of a car. Commonwealth v. Overmyer, 469 Mass. 16, 11 N.E.3d 1054 (2014):
In Commonwealth v. Cruz, 459 Mass. 459, 472, 945 N.E.2d 899 (2011) (Cruz), we held that, in the wake of the 2008 ballot initiative decriminalizing possession of one ounce or less of marijuana (2008 initiative), “the odor of burnt marijuana alone cannot reasonably provide suspicion of criminal activity.” This case requires us to resolve a question not explicitly answered in Cruz, supra: whether the smell of unburnt, as opposed to burnt, marijuana suffices to establish probable cause to believe that an automobile contains criminal contraband or evidence of a crime.1 Here, where police searched the defendant’s vehicle after seizing a “fat bag” of marijuana from the glove compartment, and after perceiving an odor of unburnt marijuana, we hold that such odor, standing alone, does not provide probable cause to search an automobile. Because it is not clear on this record, however, whether police had probable cause to arrest the defendant for criminal possession of marijuana on the basis of the marijuana seized from the glove compartment, we remand the matter to the District Court for further proceedings on that issue.
WaPo: How liberals can reclaim the Constitution by Jack M. Balkin:
For years, conservatives have called for taking back the Constitution.
In one sense, that claim is deeply ironic: Conservatives have dominated the appointments to the federal courts for a generation, and over the years, they’ve fundamentally reshaped voting rights, church-state relations and campaign finance regulation (to name just a few areas).
But conservative calls for restoring a lost Constitution also make sense. The Constitution is more than a legal document: It’s a shared symbol of the country and its ideals. Conservatives are engaged in a reform project — often quite radical in its implications. And every important movement for change in the United States has proclaimed that the Constitution is on its side.
There is no bright line rule on how long a detention for a show up can go before it becomes unreasonable. SCOTUS has said that the least intrusive means should be followed. Here, it was over an hour and it was not reasonable, and the case is reversed. In re D.M., 2014 D.C. App. LEXIS 195 (July 10, 2014):
Continue reading
A traffic arrest warrant did not support entry into the premises of a third person where the police had less than a suspicion that the target was there. The entry led to finding evidence against the homeowner which is suppressed. A search warrant was required. State v. Fisher, 2014-Ohio-3029, 2014 Ohio App. LEXIS 2963 (5th Dist. July 9, 2014):
Continue reading
Defendant conflates the probable cause requirement for a search and the standing question. In his effort to show that the government lacked probable cause to connect him to the premises, he succeeded in only showing that he lacked standing to challenge the search in the first place. United States v. Chapa-Novoa, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 188205 (D. Nev. August 29, 2013). Remember: Search warrants are directed at places, not at people, and the effort to show a lack of link, essentially a trial argument, became a lack of standing.
The district court’s conclusion that defendant initiated the conversation with the officers and was not seized by them is supported by the evidence. United States v. Hammonds, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 12947 (3d Cir. July 9, 2014).*
Defendant’s stop was valid. He was believed to be involved in a murder and had a bag suspected of carrying weapons. When he was stopped, there was reasonable suspicion. United States v. Esquivel, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 13098 (5th Cir. July 10, 2014).*
A sobriety checkpoint stop produced the smell of unburnt marijuana, and the vehicle was segregated for a search. Here, the search incident doctrine doesn’t apply when the defendant was never arrested. There were no signs of impairment. Commonwealth v. Craan, 2014 Mass. LEXIS 520 (July 9, 2014):
Continue reading
Officers’ entry onto defendant’s property to make observations around his detached garage was a violation of curtilage under Jardines. His later consent was found not tainted, but the trial court’s findings are inadequate on whether the illegal search did, in fact, taint the consent, so remanded. State v. Socci, 2014 N.H. LEXIS 73 (July 8, 2014):
Continue reading
WaPo: Manassas City police release statement on teen ‘sexting’ case by Tom Jackman:
In response to The Post’s story Wednesday about a felony sexting case in Prince William County, the Manassas City police released this statement shortly after 6 p.m. Wednesday night:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Juvenile Sexting Case
. . .
It is not the policy of the Manassas City Police or the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office to authorize invasive search procedures of suspects in cases of this nature and no such procedures have been conducted in this case. Beyond that, neither the Police Department nor the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office discusses evidentiary matters prior to court hearings.
WaPo: Daniel Chong is the entirely predictable result of dehumanizing drug offenders by Radley Balko:
The Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General has just released part of its report on the awful case of Daniel Chong. Here’s some background from the San Diego Union-Tribune:
Continue reading
