In a dog fighting investigation, Dallas PD [showing great respect for the rights of a homeowner] got a drone fly over warrant for residential property. Seeing dogs chained up in a dog fighting training configuration, officers obtained a search warrant for the property. On the good faith exception alone, the search is valid. United States v. Boyd, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 228859 (N.D. Tex. Oct. 2, 2026).
Defendant’s cursory argument the affidavit for warrant was bare bones and the magistrate was not neutral and detached isn’t enough to overcome the good faith exception. United States v. Franklin, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 227802 (N.D. Miss. Oct. 5, 2026).*
There was probable cause based on collective knowledge. People v. Wilson, 2026 Mich. App. LEXIS 8405 (Oct. 5, 2026).*
The officer’s search of defendant’s SD card didn’t exceed that of the private search. United States v. Matheny, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 30514 (4th Cir. Oct. 6, 2026).*
CNS: Colorado woman wrongfully cited for theft files class action against Flock by Amanda Pampuro (“Columbine Valley Police pursued theft charges against a Colorado woman based on footage captured on Flock cameras around her hometown.”). Too much reliance on surveillance technology (like too much reliance on AI), and too little on common sense to actually investigate? Flock doesn’t sound like the bad actor much in the complaint:
Posted inAutomatic license plate readers|Comments Off on CNS: Colorado woman wrongfully cited for theft files class action against Flock [and the police “relying” on it]
This is a Rule 41(g) petition for return of electronics seized by HSI in NYC on a Louisiana warrant for a Louisiana investigation, but no charges yet. HSI doesn’t support the basis for the seizure and hasn’t produced the warrant papers. The equities favor return of the property. Also, waiting for the Louisiana matter to play out doesn’t deprive this court of jurisdiction since the seizure was here. Wexler v. United States, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 228502 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 5, 2026).
Plaintiff’s suit over his arrest is barred by Heck. Hanke v. Grajeda, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 226615 (W.D. Ark. Aug. 24, 2026).*
Open containers and the smell of marijuana was reasonable suspicion, and that led to a search of the vehicle. United States v. Lyons, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 227394 (W.D.N.C. Oct. 5, 2026).*
Suits against Secret Service officers are a new Bivens context and barred. Williams v. United States, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 228129 (D.D.C. Oct. 5, 2026).*
North Carolina officers put a warrant approved tracker on defendant’s vehicle. That out-of-state warrant led to defendant’s conviction in Virginia. The out-of-state warrant was issued on probable cause, and it didn’t violate the Fourth Amendment tracking him in Virginia. A tracking warrant often will cross state lines, and that’s not a constitutional violation. At the minimum, the good faith exception applies. Graves v. Commonwealth, 2026 Va. App. LEXIS 533 (Oct. 6, 2026).
The investigation of whether the place to be searched is one or two dwellings has to be reasonable, not perfect. Here, whether 308 and 310 were two dwellings didn’t even matter because the affidavit for warrant authorized a search of the entire premises. United States v. Wills, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 226270 (E.D. Pa. Oct. 2, 2026).*
Officers came to plaintiff’s home with a warrant for another person who was reasonably believed to be there. Plaintiff said the wanted person wasn’t there, but the officers came in anyway, and he wasn’t there. The officers get qualified immunity over the entry. Hyttinen v. Frantti, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 30279 (6th Cir. Sep. 30, 2026).*
Blue 42 operates a licensed hemp farm registered with state and federal agriculture departments. The Georgia DPS conducted drug suppression operation using low-flying aircraft, and they destroyed two rows of Blue 42’s crops valued at $37,000. Trial court dismissed inverse condemnation claim based on categorical police power exemption. The Georgia Supreme Court reversed. The state’s rationale would swallow the state’s just compensation clause because then everything would “police power.” No exigency here. Blue 42 Organics, LLC v. Ga. Dep’t of Pub. Safety, 2026 Ga. LEXIS 273 (Sep. 9, 2026).
Defendant is ordered detained on this child pornography offense. Aside from having a prior conviction for it, he knew he was under investigation here and he dumped electronic media in his toilet tank when police came to the door. United States v. Rivera-Maldonado, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 226176 (D.P.R. Sep. 20, 2026).*
In New York, defense counsel’s representation of the facts in the motion to suppress isn’t enough to raise a fact question for a hearing. People v. Banks, 2026 NY Slip Op 05652, 2026 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 5827 (4th Dept. Oct. 1, 2026).*
Posted inMotion to suppress, Open fields, Seizure|Comments Off on GA: Inverse condemnation suit stated claim v. state’s “police power” in drug interdiction
Defendant was not improperly stopped in his curtilage. The officer was suspicious of defendant’s driving having followed him, and the officer tried to initiate the stop on the roadway. People v. Madden, 2026 Mich. App. LEXIS 8402 (Oct. 2, 2026):
Malwarebytes: Your car’s app could be telling Big Tech who you are and where you go by Pieter Arntz (“A study testing 21 cars from 19 brands and 30 companion apps found connections to advertising and tracking companies, and evidence that some apps shared sensitive personal data. Modern cars can unlock remotely, route around traffic, stream entertainment, summon roadside help, and cool or heat the cabin before you get in. But those conveniences come with a privacy cost that drivers may struggle to see and are unable to refuse.”)
Posted inSurveillance technology|Comments Off on Malwarebytes: Your car’s app could be telling Big Tech who you are and where you go
While executing a search warrant, officers compelled defendant to provide the passcode to the safe. The court suppressed the contents of the safe because it was not a valid consent. The government doesn’t get to argue inevitable discovery on a motion to reconsider. That should have been raised in its original response. United States v. Villarreal-Resendiz, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 226914 (S.D. Tex. Oct. 2, 2026).
Defendant had no standing to challenge the search of his sister’s apartment. He was just an occasional visitor there. State v. Jones, 2026-Ohio-3893 (2d Dist. Oct. 2, 2026).*
Defendant’s hand-to-hand drug transaction watched by police was probable cause for his arrest. United States v. Mayberry, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 30244 (10th Cir. Oct. 2, 2026).*
In any ineffective assistance of counsel claim, petitioner has to show that if defense counsel did what he or she should have, they would have prevailed, whether it’s a motion to suppress or objection not made. Nelson v. Cain, 375 Or. 614 (Oct. 1, 2026).*
Applying Mitchell (1976) and Brigham City (2006), it was reasonable for the officer to enter defendant’s fenced back yard after going there on a welfare check first reported by a person claiming defendant was apparently missing. His and his girlfriend’s car were at home, mail had accumulated, his dogs were unattended inside, and no one would answer their phones or come to the door. The motive wasn’t to arrest anyone, it was to check, and the girlfriend’s body was found under tarp in the backyard, and then backup was called in. Defendant was convicted of second degree murder. People v. Larson, 2026 NY Slip Op 05641, 2026 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 5865 (4th Dept. Oct. 2, 2026):
Posted inEmergency / exigency|Comments Off on NY4: Def was missing and police couldn’t find him; entry into backyard and then house were reasonable under Mitchell and Brigham City
“In conclusion, the officers in this case corroborated nothing more than the innocent details of identification that matched Holliday’s appearance (other than the two snakes [wrapped around his neck], which the caller did not mention). The officers were entitled to attempt to question Holliday, but not to detain or physically seize him. Absent corroborating evidence of criminality, the caller’s information amounted to a ‘mere hunch,’ which is not sufficient to justify even a brief detention.” Holliday v. State, 2026 Fla. App. LEXIS 7764 (Fla. 5th DCA Oct. 2, 2026).
These “officers were patrolling in a high crime area in Philadelphia in an unmarked car with tinted windows.” Seeing defendant they pulled part way onto the sidewalk and asked him whether he had anything in his cross-body bag. He said no. Then they pulled onto the sidewalk blocking it and confronted him again, and he fled. The stop was without reasonable suspicion, and the contents of the bag were properly suppressed. United States v. Teixera, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 30277 (3d Cir. Sep. 30, 2026).*
Posted inReasonable suspicion|Comments Off on FL5: Only matching description of anonymous caller’s burglary report wasn’t RS; nothing about def suggested he was a burglar
The warrant here was for defendant’s house and grounds. No vehicles were mentioned even though officers had knowledge defendant dealt drugs at least from one. On executing the warrant, they found the vehicle and seized it for forfeiture. Searching it later, they found drugs and a gun. The seizure and search were reasonable. United States v. Acevedo, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 30220 (2d Cir. Oct. 2, 2026), distinguishing United States v. Lasanta, 978 F.2d 1300 (2d Cir. 1992), with different facts.
Controlled buys and surveillance led to probable cause for defendant’s house for evidence of drug sales. United States v. Brown, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 225680 (E.D. Pa. Oct. 1, 2026).*
Defendant’s house and RV parked outside where he sometimes stayed were both his residence for purposes of his probation search condition. United States v. Brown, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 225857 (D. Mont. Oct. 1, 2026).*
At the border, defendant’s cell phone was first manually searched and then forensically searched. Neither was unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Robinson, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 30035 (2d Cir. Oct. 1, 2026), following United States v. Alisigwe, — F.4th —, 2026 WL 2751713 (2d Cir. Sept. 17, 2026) (posted here)
There was no reasonable suspicion on the totality. The court considers all six factors the government posits, but finds them wanting on the totality. Nothing here separated defendant from other innocent travelers. United States v. Kyle, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 225052 (N.D. Okla. Oct. 1, 2026).*
A probation search and defendant’s reveal of the password to his cell phone was reasonable. The PO suspected CSAM and confirmed so a search warrant was obtained. It was all reasonable. Kerr v. State, 2026 Ind. App. LEXIS 327 (Sep. 30, 2026).*
A retaliatory misdemeanor arrest without probable cause violates clearly established law. Fambrough v. City of E. Cleveland, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 30136 (6th Cir. Oct. 1, 2026).*
Reason: Border Agents Nabbed Their Phones. These Two Floridians Are Fighting Back. by Matthew Petti (“Jalal ‘Jay’ Shehadeh had no reason to believe he was under suspicion from the government. A former assistant state attorney in Florida, he traveled frequently without problems and was preapproved for fast-track border access under the Global Entry program. And he had no problem getting through Israel’s notoriously strict airport security while visiting family in the Palestinian territories. But on the way home, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) held Shehadeh for four hours at Newark Liberty International Airport with no explanation and seized his cellphone … This week, both Shehadeh and Ph.D. student Thomas Kennedy sued CBP to get their phone data back. Although the two plaintiffs weren’t aware of each other when they sued, the cases have an uncanny resemblance to each other. Both U.S. citizens live in Florida. Both are politically outspoken. Both were traveling back from the Middle East. And both had their phones taken despite warning CBP about attorney-client privileged data. They are suing to have the government not only return their property but also delete any copies CBP made.”)
Posted inBorder search, Cell phones|Comments Off on Reason: Border Agents Nabbed Their Phones. These Two Floridians Are Fighting Back.
The question of exclusion of the evidence is always separate from whether the Fourth Amendment was violated. Mercado v. State, 2026 Fla. App. LEXIS 7697 (Fla. 3d DCA Oct. 1, 2026).
Defendant’s guilty plea waived his search claim in his murder case. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t told he was waiving it. State v. Baker, 2026-Ohio-3875 (8th Dist. Oct. 1, 2026).*
Reasonable suspicion wasn’t shown from defendant’s slight criminal history, being in an alleged high crime area, and wearing a Washington Nationals hat which the Denver PD associates with gang activity [not to mention the defendant’s last name is Washington]. On the totality, there was no reasonable suspicion for a frisk of him or the car. He was always compliant and respectful to the officers and made no furtive movements. United States v. Washington, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 30067 (10th Cir. Oct. 1, 2026).*
Posted inReasonable suspicion, Waiver|Comments Off on FL3: Exclusion of evidence is a separate question from whether 4A was violated
During a traffic stop, asking for identification and about travel plans and checking the VIN is reasonable under N.Y. v. Class. United States v. Sanchez, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 223586 (D.N.M. Sep. 30, 2026).
Defendant was a passenger in a traffic stop and she was handcuffed and believed she was detained since the driver was told that. Miranda applies. Traffic detainees are not normally handcuffed. United States v. Calvert, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 223163 (N.D. Iowa Sep. 30, 2026).*
2255 petitioner doesn’t show that raising his Fourth Amendment issue sooner would have changed the outcome. United States v. Abdi, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 223027 (E.D. Mich. Sep. 30, 2026).*
Even though the officer couldn’t see the driver because of window tint, under Glover it was still reasonable to assume the registered owner was the driver. United States v. Williams, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 220561 (N.D. Ala. Aug. 28, 2026).
Possession of firearms is an ongoing crime, not an episodic one, so the warrant was not stale. United States v. Jefferson, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 219784 (E.D. Ky. Sep. 28, 2026).
The information in the affidavit for warrant was sufficient to show a fair probability drugs would be found, and it was not stale. The trial court erred in suppressing. State v. Melton, 2026 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 39 (Sep. 25, 2026).*
By the time the traffic officer asked for consent he had reasonable suspicion. United States v. Koroma, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 220887 (W.D. Pa. Sep. 28, 2026).*
Touching the fog line is reason for a stop. McGraw v. State, 2026 Ind. App. LEXIS 323 (Sep. 28, 2026).*
Courthouse News Service: Privacy class action over genetic data moves forward by Edvard Pettersson (“A federal judge on Wednesday waved portions of a class action by people who say a San Diego-based operator of a genealogical research site allowed third parties, including Meta and law enforcement, access to their DNA profile without their permission. U.S. District Judge James Simmons Jr. partially denied a motion to dismiss the claims by Verogen Inc. and Qiagen NV, a European multinational that acquired GEDmatch.com in 2023. The judge said the plaintiffs can proceed with their claims that pertain to a purported technical loophole in GEDmatch’s PRO platform, which allowed law enforcement users to circumvent the opt-out privacy setting and run comparisons against profiles of users who had specifically restricted such access.”)
Posted inDNA, Third Party Doctrine|Comments Off on CNS: Privacy class action over genetic data moves forward
"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.
