Category Archives: Prison and jail searches

D.Utah: Def in jail can’t get unrecorded phone calls to nonlawyers to prepare for trial

Defendant seeks unrestricted phone access without recording, but not just to his lawyer or standby counsel–every call. No First, Fourth, or Sixth Amendment violation (limited to lawyers). United States v. Cromar, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 215498 (D. Utah Dec. 4, … Continue reading

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W.D.Mich.: Inmate can’t claim a medical condition and then refuse testing on 4A grounds

Plaintiff inmate claims to have an allergy. The prison wanted to draw blood to confirm. “Plaintiff has failed to state a claim that the Defendants violated his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures when they … Continue reading

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E.D.Tex.: You can’t remove a state criminal case to federal court to decide your search and seizure question

One can’t remove a state criminal case to federal court via habeas to decide his search warrant motions. Washington v. 5th Dist. Court of Texas, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 209404 (E.D. Tex. Oct. 10, 2023), adopted 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading

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S.D.Fla.: Scrolling through electronic devices at the border is reasonable in CA11

Merely scrolling through an electronic device at the border is a reasonable border search. United States v. Vrdoljak, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 208332 (S.D. Fla. Nov. 20, 2023). The officer was incidentally following defendant, and he observed her driving within … Continue reading

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N.D.Iowa: Even though stop showed def wasn’t impaired, DL and LPN could still be run

Even though defendant apparently wasn’t driving impaired, once validly stopped, the officer could run DL and LPN checks. The dog sniff didn’t prolong the stop at all. United States v. Drayton, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 206461 (N.D. Iowa Oct. 10, … Continue reading

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N.D.Cal.: No REP in a computer possessed in a halfway house

Plaintiff had no reasonable expectation of privacy in a computer given him by Goodwill for whom he worked while he was living in a halfway house. He was still an inmate of the BOP. “There is no reasonable or legitimate … Continue reading

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S.D.Cal.: A pending forfeiture action in another district justifies dismissal of Rule 41(g) motion because there is another remedy

This is a Rule 41(g) action for return of property, a superyacht owned by a Russian oligarch seized allegedly in violation of Russian sanctions. The next day, a forfeiture action was filed in the S.D.N.Y., and that provided an adequate … Continue reading

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IN: Patdown of man in medical distress before paramedics arrived was reasonable

Defendant’s patdown search when he was found lying in a parking lot in medical distress was objectively reasonable as an emergency search, if just for what was on him before paramedics arrived. Meth was found. Lack of a separate state … Continue reading

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M.D.Pa.: Police continually banging on def’s door to come out was seizure; no exigency applies; suppressed

Defendant fled from the police in his car in a highspeed chase. They went to his house and came on to defendant’s curtilage, his porch, and shined flashlights through the windows. This was a search on a constitutionally protected area. … Continue reading

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PA: State obligated to raise all possible issues in defense of warrantless search in trial court

The state is obliged to raise whatever issues it can in defense of a warrantless search at the hearing. Piecemeal litigation by motion to reconsider must be avoided. Commonwealth v. Smith, 2023 PA Super 205, 2023 Pa. Super. LEXIS 482 … Continue reading

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W.D.Va.: Interference with prison mail is 1&14A claim, not 4A

Confiscation or interference with prison legal mail is a First and Fourteenth Amendment claim, not Fourth. Chenevert v. Kanode, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 171627 (W.D. Va. Sep. 26, 2023). There was reasonable suspicion for a frisk of the driver of … Continue reading

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M.D.Fla.: Defense counsel was ineffective for not raising valid suppression issue that would have reduced Guideline range below life

Defense counsel at trial was ineffective for not raising a suppression issue that would likely have prevailed and taken defendant from a life sentence down to a 20 year MM. United States v. Dasinger, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 168974 (M.D. … Continue reading

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N.D.Ga.: Civilly committed have no REP in common computer files

The plaintiff is confined in the Texas Civil Commitment Center. He has no privacy interest in the files he’s saved on TCCC common computers for his cases. Rogers v. McLane, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 125554 n. 11 (N.D. Tex. June … Continue reading

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M.D.Fla.: Briefly asking about “illegal narcotics” during a traffic stop not unreasonable because of fentanyl

Asking a stopped motorist about whether there were illegal drugs in the car was a question of officer safety because of fentanyl. “The questions here primarily involved the presence of weapons, although Officer Ragusa very briefly mentioned ‘illegal narcotics.’ The … Continue reading

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NY3: Where no information anyone else could be inside, no justification for protective sweep after def’s arrest

The police had no information even suggesting that another person was in the premises, and a protective sweep after defendant was arrested was unjustified. People v. Hadlock, 2023 NY Slip Op 03819, 2023 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3839 (3d Dept. … Continue reading

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CA11: Inmate email has same 1A protection snail mail does

Prison email to family members is protected by the First Amendment. “Just as the Fourth Amendment protects against searches by technology unknown in the 18th century, see Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. 27, 34-38 (2001), the First Amendment protects … Continue reading

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RI: Exigency of hot pursuit in a homicide case made pinging cell phone reasonable

Despite Carpenter saying it is limited to historical CSLI, this court concludes there is no meaningful difference between real-time and historical CSLI under Carpenter. Exigency, however, was real. The police were in hot pursuit seeking to question defendant for a … Continue reading

Posted in Cell phones, Cell site location information, Emergency / exigency, Hot pursuit, Particularity, Prison and jail searches, Qualified immunity, Reasonableness | Comments Off on RI: Exigency of hot pursuit in a homicide case made pinging cell phone reasonable

CA10: 2255 petitioner learned after guilty plea A-C communications were recorded in jail; no relief from plea because no effect shown

2255 petitioner was in pretrial incarceration in the private jail in Leavenworth which notoriously recorded conversations between attorneys and clients. He pled guilty with the standard 2255 waiver. This violation of his rights does not survive the waiver, and he … Continue reading

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S.D.W.Va.: No 4A right to leaving SW at scene of search

Searching officers do not violate the Fourth Amendment by not leaving a copy of the search warrant, let alone the original. Carter v. Luciano, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101723 (S.D. W. Va. June 12, 2023).* The search warrant was based … Continue reading

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E.D.Mich.: No REP in attorney-client communication in jail 8′ from jailer

Plaintiff’s Fourth Amendment complaint that attorney-client communications in jail were overheard does not survive summary judgment. He was a mere eight feet from the jailer who could clearly overhear everything. There was no reasonable expectation of privacy under the circumstances. … Continue reading

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