Defendant was a civilian working at a small Naval installation in Bahrain, and it was suspected that he had wrongfully accessed classified information and printed a paper and put it in his backpack. The backpack was searched, and it was recovered. What he was indicted for, apparently among other things, was concealment or removal of a record under § 2071. The court wrestles with, and doesn’t decide, whether a person not in the military working on a military base is subject to search under the visitor search warning on the signs outside or under the Military Rules of Evidence. Instead, the court goes to exigent circumstances to recover a classified document, and it finds there was. United States v. Hitselberger, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27792 (D. D.C. March 5, 2014),* later opinion 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39744 (D. D.C. March 26, 2014).*
The GPS unit in this case was installed in 2006, so 2012’s Jones decision did not apply to it. It was also by the consent of the owner. United States v. Brown, 744 F.3d 474 (7th Cir. 2014)
Defendant’s co-tenant had either authority to consent or apparent authority, and it was reasonable to rely on it. United States v. Hernandez, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27866 (N.D. Ga. March 5, 2014),* R&R 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 185746 (N.D. Ga. December 13, 2013).*
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Defendant was stopped for an outstanding warrant. “An outstanding arrest warrant may be executed by law enforcement officers at whatever time and place they choose.” The inventory search was proper because the police did not have the obligation so seek out defendant’s father to come and claim the vehicle on the side of the road. Greer v. State, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 3192 (Tex. App. – Waco March 20, 2014).
The city’s rental property license ordinance provides for advance consent from obtaining a license and failure to admit leads to an administrative warrant. The process complies with the Fourth Amendment. Crook v. City of Madison, 2014 Miss. App. LEXIS 170 (March 25, 2014), on rehearing 2014 Miss. App. LEXIS 536 (Sept. 30, 2014).
Two controlled buys out of defendant’s house is probable cause for a search warrant to search it. State v. Morris, 2014-Ohio-1177, 2014 Ohio App. LEXIS 1089 (7th Dist. March 20, 2014).*
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Defendant was suspected of possession of a firearm on a college campus when he approached officers looking at the ammunition in plain view in his car on a campus parking lot and he had an “aggressive posture.” They asked if he was armed. “‘No, are you supposed to be asking me that question?’ As a result of the ammunition and the defendant’s aggressive posture, the officer patted down the defendant for weapons. He found no weapons or contraband but found the defendant’s firearm identification (FID) card in his wallet, indicating that he was allowed to carry ammunition. The officer placed the defendant’s backpack on the lid of the cruiser’s trunk and then advised the defendant of the Miranda rights. When the officer said he was going to place the defendant in the backseat of the cruiser while he patted down the bag, the defendant spontaneously said, ‘Wait, there’s a loaded gun in the bag.’ The officer placed the defendant in the backseat, closed the door, and searched the backpack. He found a black Smith & Wesson 380 semiautomatic handgun loaded with eighteen bullets, an ankle-style holster, and two additional magazines. Officer Donovan seized the gun, magazines, and bullets and placed the defendant under arrest.” The actions of the officer were reasonable under the circumstances. Commonwealth v. Whitehead, 85 Mass. App. Ct. 134, 6 N.E.3d 557 (2014).
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The government developed substantial probable cause to believe defendant was involved in computer hacking in the district and elsewhere. When the search warrant issued, it was for all electronic equipment and media in his house, and the court finds it not too general, considering the fact the crime was computer hacking. Also, the warrant was not stale. It was logical to conclude the information would still be on defendant’s computers because he “was proud of his work” as a hacker. United States v. Keys, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38584 (E.D. Cal. March 23, 2014):
Pre-Jones planting of a “slap on GPS device” is governed by the good faith exception. However, the defendant is granted discovery relating to the GPS decision in Maynard as it relates to the government’s good faith defense. “Therefore, the defense is entitled to directives or instructions, if any, issued to the federal agents involved in the investigation of Wilford, directing compliance in Maryland with Maynard during any period of the investigation.” United States v. Wilford, 961 F. Supp. 2d 740 (D. Md. 2013).*
A GPS was placed on defendant’s car while it was parked in his driveway. It was pre-Jones, and the Davis good faith exception saved the search. United States v. Dooley, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 80904 (N.D. Ga. June 7, 2013).*
The government failed to prove that the defendant’s alleged traffic violation in a national park actually was one, and the stop is suppressed. United States v. Cole, 948 F. Supp. 2d 1251 (W.D. Wash. 2013).*
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The USMJ found the officers’ testimony on defendant’s consent “inherently improbable” and that was binding on the district court on review. The motion to suppress is granted. United States v. Lawson, 961 F. Supp. 2d 496 (W.D. N.Y. 2013).*
Defendant was stopped for having red headlights, and the LPN came back as not matching the car. The stop was justified, as was the search. Thammasack v. State, 323 Ga. App. 715, 747 S.E.2d 877 (2013).*
The stop of defendant’s car was based on overtinting, and a gun was in plain view inside, and that was probable cause for a protective weapons search. United States v. Victor, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117053 (S.D. Fla. August 19, 2013),* adopted 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 127035 (S.D. Fla. September 5, 2013).*
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Defendant entered the parking lot of a closed business and parked near the building. The officer did not need reasonable suspicion to approach to ask what she was doing. She was found under the influence. State v. Gauthier, 2014 Ga. App. LEXIS 206 (March 21, 2014).*
A report of vandalism at a baseball field did not justify stopping defendant’s car when there was nothing to link him and it to the report other than place and time of day and rank coincidence. One vehicle had already been stopped and questioned, and two other vehicles had to stop behind them. Defendant was also approached in the third vehicle and he was under the influence. State v. Holmes, 2014 Ga. App. LEXIS 202 (March 21, 2014).*
He’s back: Religious figure’s son was stopped suspected of painting graffiti and busted as juvenile for cocaine possession in Bakersfield. In re Jesus C., 2014 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 2017 (5th Dist. March 21, 2014).*
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When a state officer asks a state judge for a search warrant, it isn’t governed by Rule 41. This anticipatory warrant was issued in good faith under state law, and it will not be suppressed because it was issued with probable cause. United States v. Golson, 743 F.3d 44 (3d Cir. 2014).
Police had detailed and corroborated information from a CI that defendant would regularly come to a rest area for an exchange of heroin and cash, so they set up surveillance for the next drop. There he was, and that was probable cause. United States v. Cabrera, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16694 (W.D. Pa. February 11, 2014).*
The search warrants in this case are supported by probable cause, and the good faith exception would save the searches in any event. United States v. Tomes, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16257 (W.D. N.C. January 9, 2014).*
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Defendant left a house being watched by the police who were waiting for a search warrant. They followed him and finally ordered him to stop and assume the position, which he did. Then he fled. Because the stop was unlawful, it tainted the abandonment of guns in flight. United States v. Brodie, 742 F.3d 1058 (D.C. Cir. 2014).
Here the drug dog was used on the car while waiting for the license checks to return, and that was de minimus in extending the stop, if at all. However, the Fifth Circuit hasn’t adopted that rule yet, so this court won’t. The court [stretches and] finds reasonable suspicion to support the sniff. United States v. Waldrip, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20665 (S.D. Tex. February 19, 2014).*
The trial court found consent. The other issues raised on appeal weren’t raised or, if they were, weren’t ruled on below, so they’re not preserved. Lewis v. State, 2014 Ark. App. 136, 2014 Ark. App. LEXIS 154 (February 19, 2014).*
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An officer with an arrest warrant could press his face against defendant’s tinted house window in an effort to see if he was inside. The officers had an anonymous 911 call he was home and had a reasonable belief he was inside when that view was made and they entered. United States v. Glover, 746 F.3d 369 (8th Cir. 2014).
Defendant’s plea agreement benefitted him, and it waived his suppression issue. United States v. De La Pena, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38376 (D. Nev. March 24, 2014).*
Defendant was found to have consented to a search of his convenience store for synthetic drugs. He was conversant enough in English to translate the Miranda form for another person there who didn’t speak English well at all. United States v. Lail, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38433 (D. Nev. March 24, 2014).*
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The drug dog’s certification records shows reliability for the sniff. The fact there was an error rate doesn’t undermine probable cause. The dog’s recertification process is more an indicator of reliability than field performance where errors are likely for all dogs. United States v. Trejo, 551 Fed. Appx. 565 (11th Cir. 2014) (note: footnote 6 revised on rehearing 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 5410 (11th Cir. March 24, 2014):
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Officers had a description of vehicle being involved with drugs but no detail. Defendant’s vehicle matched the description, so he was validly stopped because it was suspected that his license plate was expired. After the stop, it was determined that the vehicle was in fact properly licensed and the tag was on the wrong corner of the plate. The officer noticed defendant was nervous. He asked defendant for consent, and defendant refused. The officer had defendant get out and he frisked him. Asked for consent a second time, defendant consented, but this consent was the product of an illegal detention, even though it was only four minutes long. Heard v. State, 325 Ga. App. 135, 751 S.E.2d 918 (2013):
"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.
