NC: While watching a house just before SW execution in a drug case, transfer of boxes between cars was RS for visitor’s car

Reasonable suspicion here came from the fact that defendant transferred boxes from the vehicle of a target of a search warrant to his own while officers were watching, warrant in hand. His driving wasn’t evasive, and he likely didn’t even know he was being followed, but there was independent reasonable suspicion based on the box transfer. State v. McKnight, 2015 N.C. App. LEXIS 18 (January 20, 2015).

Defendant was in a minor accident, but the police came and found him under the influence of something. The officer suspected it was marijuana. The officer made the decision to arrest and tow his vehicle. Defendant was asked if he had any marijuana on him so he wouldn’t be introducing it into the jail. In plain view was a “Guy Fawkes” mask that the officer recognized. In an inventory the officer found an apparent Molotov Cocktail in a bottle in the trunk. That led to his indictment for possession of an incendiary device. The inventory was reasonable, and the protocol doesn’t have to be followed to a “T.” He was 20 years old, and his father consented to a search of his bedroom, and more were found. That was reasonable, too. United States v. Buchanan, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6117 (M.D. Tenn. January 20, 2015).*

Use of a subpoena to get IP information in a child pornography case was lawful under Smith v. Maryland. “‘Every federal court to address this issue has held that subscriber information provided to an Internet Provider is not protected by the Fourth Amendment’s privacy expectation.’ United States v. Perrine, 518 F.3d 1196, 1204 (10th Cir. 2008) (collecting cases); …” United States v. Torres, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6330 (S.D. Ga. January 14, 2015).*

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