Monthly Archives: January 2021

The Intercept: How The LAPD And Palantir Use Data To Justify Racist Policing

The Intercept: How The LAPD And Palantir Use Data To Justify Racist Policing by Mara Hvistendahl (“In a new book, a sociologist who spent months embedded with the LAPD details how data-driven policing techwashes bias.”)

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CA8: Officer wins two § 1983 cases in same day from E.D. Mo., Cape Girardeau

The officer had cause for defendant’s stop for a broken taillight and then found a warrant for his arrest. “Wood also alleges that after the fact, Wooten fabricated evidence about the arrest (and then invoked his Fifth Amendment right about … Continue reading

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E.D.Mich.: PC a close call, so GFE applies

“Ultimately, the Court need not decide which side of the Ramirez-Merriweather line [of probable cause] this case falls. It suffices to say that, especially because the search warrant affidavit makes no mention of any communications involving Jackson’s cell phone, it … Continue reading

Posted in Curtilage, Good faith exception, Probable cause, Reasonable expectation of privacy | Comments Off on E.D.Mich.: PC a close call, so GFE applies

M.D.La.: Driveway here was not Curtilage “intimately tied to the home”

Defendant’s driveway was not Curtilage “intimately tied to the home.” United States v. Martinez-Velazquez, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15723 (M.D. La. Jan. 28, 2021):

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M.D.Tenn.: SW affiants should err on side of more information, not less

“[T]he warrant affidavit established probable cause to search the Residence, based on a combination of the smell of marijuana emanating from the Residence and the marijuana stem recovered in the trash pull. The affidavit reveals that three different MNPD officers … Continue reading

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CA1: Defense must argue cost v. benefits of exclusionary rule or issue is likely waived

When invoking the exclusionary rule, the defendant necessarily has to show that the deterrence value of exclusion outweighs the costs of exclusion. United States v. Cruz-Ramos, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 2284 (1st Cir. Jan. 27, 2021), n. 9:

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E.D.Wis.: No REP as to pole camera surveillance, one in an apt building hallway

Two surveillance cameras were installed; one on a pole, one in a hallway of an apartment building. Defendant, a visitor, had no reasonable expectation of privacy. A codefendant already litigated this motion and lost, and he should have acknowledged the … Continue reading

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Pre-Carpenter CSLI was in good faith

The CSLI order here pre-dated Carpenter, and it was based on probable cause. Since Carpenter wasn’t retroactive, the motion to suppress is denied. United States v. Stamat, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14268 (D.Minn. Jan. 26, 2021).* Defendant’s CSLI was obtained … Continue reading

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AR: Adding to PC argument on appeal wasn’t preserved

Defendant’s specific argument on appeal about the lack of probable cause was not presented to the trial court, so it’s not preserved for appeal. In a Franks part of the motion, the affidavit has to be read as a whole, … Continue reading

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CA4: Not every fact an affiant knows needs to go in a SW affidavit for Franks

The omission of some facts didn’t make out a Franks violation. Affiants for search warrants are not required to itemize every fact they know and omission of some, the nonmaterial, doesn’t make out a Franks violation nor undermine the probable … Continue reading

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CA10: Officers’ mistake of fact here undermined the RS

The government conceded on appeal (as it should) that the officers alleged to have reasonable suspicion were mistaken as to what they testified to because they were misinformed. Taking this information out of the equation, the court finds that they … Continue reading

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ABAJ: Immigration lawyer sues over seizure of his cellphone at airport

ABAJ: Immigration lawyer sues over seizure of his cellphone at airport by Debra Cassens Weiss (“Texas immigration lawyer Adam A. Malik has sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for seizing and retaining his iPhone when he returned to the … Continue reading

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D.Minn.: Seeking “four corners review” of affidavit for SW isn’t a proper motion to suppress

A generalized motion to suppress merely seeking “four corners review” of probable cause is insufficient. “Defendant’s failure to specify the basis for his suppression motion and provide any argument in support thereof warrants denial alone.” “Defendant’s motion also fails because … Continue reading

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E.D.Pa.: Can’t relitigate denial of motion to suppress in motion for new trial

A motion for new trial is not the place to relitigate denial of a motion to suppress. United States v. Mack, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14024 (E.D. Pa. Jan. 16, 2021). There was reasonable suspicion on the totality for defendant’s … Continue reading

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N.D.Ga.: “Any and all” in a SW is severable to maintain particularity

Catch-all language, like “any and all” in a list of things to be seized, is severable to narrow the warrant. United States v. Qadri, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13975 (N.D. Ga. Jan. 26, 2021). “Based on the totality of the … Continue reading

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Reason: Cops Must Destroy Illegal Surveillance Videos From Spa Visited by Robert Kraft

Reason: Cops Must Destroy Illegal Surveillance Videos From Spa Visited by Robert Kraft by Elizabeth Nolan Brown (“Authorities ‘shall destroy the videos unlawfully obtained through the surveillance of the Orchids of Asia Day Spa,’ a federal judge says.”)

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CA9: When the 4A question isn’t settled, the alleged 4A violation can’t be egregious in immigration cases

“In immigration proceedings, the exclusionary rule applies to evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment only when the violation is egregious. … Petitioners bear the burden of making a prima facie showing of an egregious Fourth Amendment violation. … … Continue reading

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CA4: When lower court decides both PC and GFE, on appeal either one can be decided

When the district court decides both probable cause for issuance of the warrant and the good faith exception applies, the court of appeals need only decide one; here good faith. “Because our review of the record demonstrates that the affidavit … Continue reading

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A.F.: Particularity and avoiding general warrants in electronic searches

“In charting how to apply the Fourth Amendment to searches of electronic devices, we glean from our reading of the case law a zone in which such searches are expansive enough to allow investigators access to places where incriminating materials … Continue reading

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LA: RS was “close question,” and evidence supports conclusion

The trial court found the reasonable suspicion close, and it concluded there was. “The testimony and evidence support the trial’s court’s finding that Zimmerman had reasonable suspicion of possible criminal activity to extend the stop to allow a canine to … Continue reading

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