D.N.H.: Separate PC was shown even though stop was made to aid DEA investigation

Officers wanted defendant’s car stopped and probable cause for a searched developed because they didn’t want to reveal a DEA investigation. The traffic officer waited for a traffic violation and then developed probable cause during the stop. United States v. Balser, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 239177 (D.N.H. Dec. 21, 2020). [Watch for stops that appear to have an alternative actual basis. I’ve had at least a dozen traffic stops where it became apparent that the officers knew the defendant was coming, likely from a CI, and then made the stop and hoped for reason to call in a drug dog to sanitize the stop from its actual cause to not burn their CI.]

An arrest on mistaken identity but with probable cause doesn’t usually violate the Fourth Amendment. “Williams argues, for the first time, that Geier and Shirah violated his right to an unreasonable seizure by detaining him on a charge of harassment without probable cause after they discovered his true identity. But, as a court of review, we do not consider arguments raised for the first time on appeal.” Williams v. City of Montgomery, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 39925 (11th Cir. Dec. 21, 2020).*