N.D.Ga.: Driveway between street and house not curtilage

No standing to challenge installation of GPS for two reasons: (1) while the car was parked on defendant’s driveway, that’s where cars were commonly parked, and it was close to the street, so this would not be considered curtilage; (2) he didn’t claim he regularly drove the car, just occasionally drove it, so it wasn’t his to complain. United States v. Dooley, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 185902 (N.D. Ga. January 29, 2013)*:

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TX4: No REP in grass behind convenience store where drugs were stored for street sale

No reasonable expectation of privacy in the grass behind a convenience store where defendant kept his drugs for sale. Ramirez v. State, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 2703 (Tex. App. – San Antonio March 12, 2014).*

A warrant was obtained for cell site location data, and defendant’s Franks argument that it wouldn’t have issued if the district court had known the missing fact fails for lack of materiality. United States v. Thousand, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 4627 (7th Cir. March 12, 2014).*

Dispatch telling the officer defendant had two prior DWIs was reliable enough to based a forced blood draw under Texas law. The larger constitutional question wasn’t preserved. 25 year sentence affirmed. Perez v. State, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 2681 (Tex. App. – Houston (1st Dist.) March 11, 2014).*

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CA7: Being in a high crime area with a 10 year old arrest isn’t PC; no QI

Not even arguable probable cause for plaintiff’s arrest, and the officer gets no qualified immunity. Being on a drug corridor, nervous, no current address on DL, temporary insurance card, and a 10 year old arrest isn’t probable cause. Huff v. Reichert, 744 F.3d 999 (7th Cir. 2014)*:
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D.D.C.: SW for Facebook account of Washington Navy Yard shooter was overbroad as to third parties, but narrowed

In the Washington Navy Yard shooting case, the government sought a search warrant for the dead shooter’s Facebook account, and the USMJ narrowed the request because it didn’t adequately protect third parties. [No free link on court’s website, and this court has an opinions link, and this was just posted to Lexis.] In the Matter of the Search of Information Associated with the Facebook Account Identified by the Username Aaron.Alexis That Is Stored at Premises Controlled by Facebook, Inc., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 185850 (D. D.C. November 26, 2013):

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VA: Privacy settings on P2P software create no privacy interest; computer was open to the world

By installing a P2P program on his computer and leaving it on, defendant opened his computer files to the world and waived any reasonable expectation of privacy in his computer. Relying on software settings that don’t work for privacy is inadequate. Rideout v. Commonwealth, 62 Va. App. 779, 753 S.E.2d 595 (2014):

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IL: State can’t rely on parole status to justify search if unknown at time of search

The state can’t rely on parole status to justify a bad search when the officer didn’t know that defendant was on parole. Also, the state’s inevitable discovery argument was expressly waived in the trial court. People v. Coleman, 2013 IL App (1st) 130030, 2 N.E.3d 1221 (2013).

Defendant had no standing to challenge the arrest of codefendants or the search of their car, which was valid anyway under the automobile exception and inventory. United States v. Acosta-Colón, 741 F.3d 179 (1st Cir. 2013).*

Eight minute delay for drug dog was not unreasonable where the reasonable suspicion for the detention was the officer’s reasonable belief the occupants of the car were under the influence from their glazed eyes and slow movements. State v. Valenti, 2013-Ohio-5564, 2013 Ohio App. LEXIS 5811 (9th Dist. December 18, 2013).*

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CA8: No REP in plastic bag hidden under rusted out refrigerator in open field

Defendant showed no reasonable expectation of privacy in a plastic bag hidden under a rusted out refrigerator out on his aunt’s open field where he was just her caretaker. This is like United States v. Stallings, 28 F.3d 58 (8th Cir. 1994), where the object of a search was an unmarked tote bag left in an open field. United States v. Douglas, 744 F.3d 1065 (8th Cir. 2014).*

Officers responding to an 911 overdose call got into decedent’s barricaded bedroom, and he came at them with a raised knife. They shot and killed him. Qualified immunity. Harris v. Serpas, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 4643 (5th Cir. March 12, 2014).

The affidavit for the search warrant supported the conclusion drug evidence would be found at defendant’s house based on the totality. United States v. Donaldson, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 4566 (11th Cir. March 12, 2014).*

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CA1: Where no clearly established law on entry into open door on 911 call, officers get QI

Officers get qualified immunity in a § 1983 case for entering a house where the neighbors called 911 to report the door was left open. Macdonald v. Town of Eastham, 745 F.3d 8 (1st Cir. 2014):
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MO: If the stop is valid, RS not needed to ask for consent

Defendant was stopped for not signaling, and the officer ran his DL. Three minutes into the stop he asked again “whether there was anything in the truck that he needed to know about.” Defendant consented to a search saying there were no drugs in the vehicle. Instead, the officer found everything for a meth lab other than pseudoephedrine. The consent was valid. “Thus, an officer is not required to have articulable facts to justify additional questioning unrelated to the initial justification for the stop. Rather, the issue is whether the additional questioning measurably extends the duration of the stop. In this case, it did not.” State v. McCleary, 2014 Mo. App. LEXIS 263 (March 11, 2014).

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OH10: Being a drug house lookout was PC for arrest

Probable cause existed for defendant’s arrest as being a lookout for a drug operation. He also consented to a search. State v. Mowler, 2014-Ohio-831, 2014 Ohio App. LEXIS 803 (8th Dist. March 6, 2014).*

Officers had probable cause for defendant’s stop and arrest based on wiretaps and surveillance. What the officers did not have didn’t undermine the probable cause. Probable cause was also separately shown for searches of property. United States v. Groves, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29593 (S.D. Ohio March 7, 2014).*

Defense counsel was not ineffective for stipulating to admission of DVD of a traffic stop where the defense argument was that the video supported the defense. State v. Harlow, 2014-Ohio-864, 2014 Ohio App. LEXIS 814 (4th Dist. February 26, 2014).*

Defendant fit the “drug courier profile” with a one-way ticket for cash bought two hours before departure. He was stopped and questioned in the Philadelphia airport. He consented to a search of his suitcase, and heroin was found. A search warrant for his cell phone was also obtained. “The information on the cell phone and the text messages show that defendant lied to the agents, and also had familiarity with drug dealings. From all of this evidence, the Court concludes that the jury was warranted in finding the defendant guilty.” United States v. Soto-Gonzalez, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30044 (E.D. Pa. February 28, 2014).*

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NY4: Seizure of rifle in DV entry of apt. was waived at hearing

Officers responding to a domestic call at defendant’s apartment removed him and talked to his wife who consented to a search. The seizure of a rifle from the apartment was waived during the suppression hearing when it was expressed that only the legality of the entry was at issue. People v. Britton, 2014 NY Slip Op 25, 113 A.D.3d 1101, 977 N.Y.S.2d 851 (4th Dept. 2014).*

Defendant’s arrest warrant was not issued on a false statement or perjury. Even if it was, defendant’s consent was sufficiently attenuated from it. United States v. Holmes, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 415 (W.D. Tenn. January 3, 2014).*

Officers with an arrest warrant had good reason to believe that defendant was in the house despite his family members’ denials he was there. The attic was subject to protective sweep because defendant had hidden there. “[I]t then follows that the officers’ plain view observation of the blue lunch box-like container with white powder on the outside was not improper.” United States v. Dixon, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 182232 (W.D. Mo. November 18, 2013).*

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MS: Knowledge of rights supported voluntariness of consent

Defendant at first insisted on a warrant to search his car. Later he confessed. This knowledge of his rights shows that his consent was voluntary. McDonald v. State, 130 So. 3d 102 (Miss. App. 2013):

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MA: “Overwhelming odor” of MJ in decrim state supported SW for car; it’s not a small amount

Despite marijuana small quantity decriminalization in Massachusetts, the overwhelming odor of unburnt marijuana coupled with a small quantity in a bag and cash in the car was probable cause for a search warrant. Commonwealth v. Fontaine, 84 Mass. App. Ct. 699, 3 N.E.3d 82 (2014):

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CA10: Stop at 2:45 am in normally unoccupied industrial area known for break-ins was reasonable; body cam resolves credibility

Defendant was stopped at 2:45 a.m. walking in an industrial area where there were no houses and usually no people, but a rash of burglaries. He was carrying a bag and calling his girlfriend on a cell phone to pick him up. The entire interaction was caught on the officer’s body cam. When the officer stopped him, he put down a black bag and walked toward the officer, apparently distancing himself from the bag. The girlfriend showed up being followed by another police officer, and she succeeded in acquiring the bag and putting it in her car without the officers noticing. When the bag was asked about, she admitted having it, and attempted to pass off another bag as the one, which the officer caught. Ultimately she consented to a search of the car, and guns were visible, the butt of one sticking out of the bag. The stop was reasonable under Terry. The guns came back stolen, and it turned out the guns were stolen by defendant in a gun store burglary in Missouri. United States v. Fonseca, 744 F.3d 674 (10th Cir. 2014):

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Politico: Judge orders NSA to preserve call data

Politico: Judge orders NSA to preserve call data by Josh Gerstein:

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Wired.com: Florida Cops’ Secret Weapon: Warrantless Cellphone Tracking

Wired.com: Florida Cops’ Secret Weapon: Warrantless Cellphone Tracking by Kim Zetter:

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CA8: Acquitted plaintiff loses § 1983 case over search because of qualified immunity

In this § 1983 case, plaintiff called 911 because of a gas leak. He had an extensive gun collection, and the first responders noticed a couple of guns in the gun cases had barrels shorter that the law allows. A search warrant was obtained for the guns. After plaintiff was arrested, tried, and acquitted, he sued them. They were entitled to qualified immunity. He invited them into the house, and the incriminating nature of the guns was immediately apparent. Therefore, they could apply for the search warrant. Fagnan v. City of Lino Lakes, 745 F.3d 318 (8th Cir. 2014).*

The bits and pieces of information that the police knew individually might not have shown probable cause, but collectively they did. Defendant lacked standing to challenge the search of a neighbor’s second floor apartment which led to a search warrant for defendant’s third floor apartment. Bradley v. State, 2014 Ind. App. LEXIS 95 (March 10, 2014).*

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CA1: Getting SW for car doesn’t mean officers had doubts about PC

Defendant was stopped based on a CI’s providing police an exemplar of counterfeit money that he said came from defendant. While the CI later proved to be “eccentric” the information was sufficiently corroborated and believable to stop defendant. The police ultimately got a search warrant for the car, but that didn’t mean they had doubts about the PC for the search. The automobile exception would have applied. United States v. Silva, 742 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2014):

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GA: Because LPN had been cancelled and all occupants had warrants, towing and inventory was reasonable

A computer check showed the LPN on defendant’s car had been cancelled, and he was stopped at a convenience store at the gas pumps. It turned out that the driver and the lone passenger had warrants for their arrest. The towing and inventory of the vehicle was reasonable. Armstrong v. State, 2014 Ga. App. LEXIS 51 (February 6, 2014).*

The person living at the house had apparent authority to consent, assuming defendant had standing [which seems doubtful but not explored]. United States v. Gardner, 554 Fed. Appx. 165 (4th Cir. 2014).*

With information from a CI, the police knew that a vehicle with Utah plates would show up at defendant’s house to buy methamphetamine. Based on all they knew, there was reasonable suspicion for the stop when they showed up. United States v. Serrato, 742 F.3d 461 (10th Cir. 2014).*

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ACLU v. Clapper now on Lexis

ACLU v. Clapper, 959 F. Supp. 2d 724 (S.D. N.Y. 2013), posted here.

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