“Defendant does not explain how the Magistrate Judge erred in her consideration of this [Fourth Amendment] argument or explanation of the binding precedent that compelled her conclusion; he merely reiterates his prior argument on this issue. This is not a valid objection, and the Court finds that the Magistrate Judge did not err.” United States v. Barrow, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 144219 (N.D. Ga. Aug. 13, 2024).*
Defendant’s 2255 claim that the search exceeded the scope of the warrant was waived by his guilty plea. United States v. Ledbetter, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 142789 (W.D. Okla. Aug. 12, 2024).*
There was reasonable suspicion for defendant’s stop, and that produced outstanding warrants for his arrest. Then a search of the vehicle followed. United States v. Hudson, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 142897 (W.D. Mo. July 8, 2024),* adopted, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 142429 (W.D. Mo. Aug. 12, 2024).*
Plaintiff’s sole search claim that officers “in so doing unjustifiably trespassed on his Fourth Amendment right to privacy” did not put the district court on notice of his specific claim now asserted on appeal. United States v. Murillo-Gonzalez, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 20456 (10th Cir. Aug. 14, 2024):
This iCloud warrant was based on probable cause and was particular and had a specific time limit. “Certain of the categories of evidence authorized for seizure by the February iCloud Warrant may appear overbroad in isolation but are sufficiently particular when considered in context. Unlike the search warrants in the cases cited by Amiri, any facial overbreadth is cured by the preambulatory statement before the list of items to be seized.” United States v. Amiri, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 143111 (N.D. Cal. July 26, 2024),* adopted, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 144346 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 13, 2024).*
Defendant was stopped based in part on a CI’s tip he was involved in drugs. The drug dog was there almost immediately, and that didn’t contribute to the stop. United States v. Myers, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 142920 (E.D. Tenn. Aug. 12, 2024).*
2254 petitioner’s Franks ineffective assistance of counsel claim fails because he never shows that the claim had any chance of success. George v. Rewerts, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 142655 (W.D. Mich. Aug. 12, 2024).*
Defendant’s stop was valid, and he got out of the car leaving the door open. The officer could see the firearm in the car, and that’s plain view. United States v. Bailey, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 20336 (4th Cir. Aug. 13, 2024).*
This iCloud warrant was based on probable cause and was particular and had a specific time limit. “Certain of the categories of evidence authorized for seizure by the February iCloud Warrant may appear overbroad in isolation but are sufficiently particular when considered in context. Unlike the search warrants in the cases cited by Amiri, any facial overbreadth is cured by the preambulatory statement before the list of items to be seized.” United States v. Amiri, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 143111 (N.D. Cal. July 26, 2024),* adopted, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 144346 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 13, 2024).*
2254 petitioner’s Franks ineffective assistance of counsel claim fails because he never shows that the claim had any chance of success. George v. Rewerts, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 142655 (W.D. Mich. Aug. 12, 2024).*
Defendant’s 2255 claim that the search exceeded the scope of the warrant was waived by his guilty plea. United States v. Ledbetter, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 142789 (W.D. Okla. Aug. 12, 2024).*
Defendant’s chain of custody argument after an inventory search was differently articulated than in the district court so it’s not preserved. United States v. Edwards, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 19568 (8th Cir. Aug. 6, 2024).*
Defendant’s nolo plea waived his IAC claim that defense counsel should have challenged the length of the stop, which the court finds reasonable in any event based on the video. State v. Smith, 2024-Ohio-3066 (11th Dist. Aug. 12, 2024).*
Officer seeing a bulge in defendant’s clothing that gave the telltale look of being a gun was reasonable suspicion. United States v. Bryant, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 19563 (D.C. Cir. Aug. 6, 2024).*
Plaintiff’s Fourth Amendment claim here wasn’t clearly established, so qualified immunity applies. Here, it was making a U-turn and driving at officers after a DUI stop. Jones v. Rieben, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 19566 (11th Cir. Aug. 6, 2024).*
Every court to have dealt with the good faith exception in Playpen warrants has sustained them. This case attempts a different casting of the argument, but it’s rejected too. United States v. Dorosheff, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 19590 (7th Cir. Aug. 6, 2024).*
The defendant officers did not search this cell phone until after a warrant was obtained, so clearly qualified immunity. Morgan v. Phaypanya, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 19570 (8th Cir. Aug. 6, 2024).*
Defendant’s encounter with the police started as consensual because she was stuck in the snow, but the officer reasonably suspected she was under the influence. Romero v. State ex rel. Wyo. DOT, 2024 WY 84, 2024 Wyo. LEXIS 85 (Aug. 6, 2024).*
There was reasonable suspicion for defendant having sex with a minor in his car because of his being partly undressed and a sex toy in plain view. United States v. Goerig, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 19577 (3d Cir. Aug. 6, 2024).*
There is no reasonable expectation of privacy that an officer’s can’t use a light transmittance meter on window tint that is plainly visible. “Nonetheless, application of the window tint meter here was not unreasonable in light of the authority granted to officers pursuant to § 6308(b). It is true that performing this test may occasionally involve manipulation of the glass to be tested; however, that is not materially different than opening a car door in order to verify a VIN or raising a hatch to confirm an engine number. See, e.g., New York v. Class …” Commonwealth v. Castaneira, 2024 PA Super 178, 2024 Pa. Super. LEXIS 342 (Aug. 12, 2024). (What about opening the car door to measure?)
The DUI advice of penalties and rights for refusing a BAC test doesn’t violate due process. Nash v. Comm’r of Pub. Safety, 2024 Minn. App. LEXIS 365 (Aug. 2, 2024).*
Defendant’s stop was supported by both reasonable suspicion of a traffic offense and probable cause based on collective knowledge because of defendant’s prior activities reported to the officer making the stop. United States v. Hall, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141831 (E.D. Ky. June 24, 2024),* adopted, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141045 (E.D. Ky. Aug. 8, 2024).*
Defense counsel was ineffective for not raising a winning Fourth Amendment curtilage argument. As to the co-defendant, however, he lacks standing, so no IAC as to him. United States v. Chong, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 20467 (9th Cir. Aug. 14, 2024). From the court’s summary:
Plaintiff does not plausibly allege that slapping during arrest to control her was objectively unreasonable. Harding v. Gould, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141944 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 9, 2024).*
The officer here shot and killed a 13-year-old holding and raising a toy gun that looked real. A jury found for the officer that the force was reasonable, and the verdict is affirmed. Exclusion of plaintiff’s expert wouldn’t have changed the outcome. King v. City of Columbus, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 20146 (6th Cir. Aug. 9, 2024).*
“Drawing all permissible factual inferences in Soukaneh’s favor, as we must on summary judgment, we agree with the district court. The evidence would support a finding that Andrzejewski violated Soukaneh’s Fourth Amendment rights to be free from unreasonable search and seizure when he detained Soukaneh in the manner, and for the length of time, that he did, and when he conducted the warrantless searches of Soukaneh’s car and trunk. Andrzejewski is not entitled to qualified immunity for such conduct and, accordingly, the district court properly denied his motion for summary judgment.” Soukaneh v. Andrzejewski, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 20191 (2d Cir. Aug. 12, 2024).*
The District Court correctly granted qualified immunity to an officer who detained plaintiff due to a mistaken identity fugitive warrant because there was no showing that any reasonable official in the defendant’s shoes would have understood that he was violating the plaintiff’s Fourth Amendment constitutional right. Vasquez v. District of Columbia, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 20097 (D.C. Cir. Aug. 9, 2024).
There was an underlying contentious land ownership dispute, but the officers removing plaintiff for criminal trespass had arguable probable cause to arrest plaintiff. They didn’t have to resolve the dispute to make the arrest. In addition, plaintiff fled from the officers adding to it. Cooper v. Lister, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 20087 (11th Cir. Aug. 9, 2024).*
Defendant was in no position to complain on appeal about the alleged withholding of information in the search warrant affidavit when he didn’t completely pursue it at the suppression hearing, leaving it all up in the air. State v. Pettway, 2024-Ohio-3041 (6th Dist. Aug. 9, 2024).*
Looking to the common law, unreasonable retention of property after a case is resolved can violate the Fourth Amendment. Asinor v. District of Columbia, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 20098 (D.C. Cir. Aug. 9, 2024):
There is no special reasonable expectation of privacy under the Fourth Amendment to bar the IRS/FinCEN Form 8300 reporting requirement. Carman v. Yellen, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 20033 (6th Cir. Aug. 9, 2024).
Four of petitioner’s 2255 claims involved a search issue, and he had a full and fair opportunity to litigate it before. CoA denied. McGuire v. Sec’y, Fla. Dep’t of Corr., 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 20036 (11th Cir. Aug. 8, 2024).*
Petitioner’s successor habeas attempt is denied. One issue is just a rehash of his previously denied Fourth Amendment ineffective assistance of counsel claim. In re Hill, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 20059 (6th Cir. Aug. 8, 2024).*
Defense counsel wasn’t ineffective for not filing a motion to suppress that would have failed. Defense counsel also wrote repeatedly to defendant but he never responded. “Representation between an attorney and their client is not a one-way street. Without participation, communication, and cooperation from the client, which appears to have been lacking here, a defense counsel’s representation can be adversely impacted by their client’s lack of cooperation.” State v. Smith, 2024 Del. Super. LEXIS 576 (Aug. 9, 2024).
The fact there is medical marijuana in the state did not defeat the probable cause showing because there was also information about alleged sales from the property. Here, the police went to defendant’s home for a knock-and-talk and could smell marijuana from inside. That led to a search warrant. United States v. Gilmore, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 20006 (8th Cir. Aug. 9, 2024).
Individually, the border patrol agent’s observations aren’t necessarily reasonable suspicion, but collectively they are. United States v. Clark, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140915 (D. Ariz. July 19, 2024),* adopted, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139053 (D. Ariz. Aug. 6, 2024).*
Defendant’s touching the fog line twice and driving 12-17 mph below the speed limit on an interstate highway justified his stop. Then the smell of marijuana was probable cause. United States v. Jinnah, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141012 (N.D. Iowa Aug. 8, 2024).*
On the totality of circumstances, the officers are credible, and the court finds that defendant consented to this search. Guam v. Guerrero, 2024 Guam Trial Order LEXIS 126 (Aug. 6, 2024).*
Plaintiff had his conviction reversed for an illegal search. On remand, the prosecutor dismissed. He sought compensation for his unlawful conviction. He gets no relief. State law only provides for compensation for the factually innocent, and that’s not this. In the Matter of the Wrongful Conviction of Doelz, 2024 Kan. LEXIS 77 (Aug. 9, 2024).
The post-conviction Fourth Amendment claim could have been raised on direct appeal and wasn’t, so it is waived. Also, the search claim is not newly discovered. State v. Harris, 2024-Ohio-2993 (5th Dist. Aug. 6, 2024).*
The government failed in its burden of proof on inevitable discovery that, but for its illegality, it would have searched defendant’s cell phone under a warrant anyway. United States v. Landers, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140732 (M.D. Fla. June 21, 2024),* adopted, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140786 (M.D. Fla. July 10, 2024).*
A generalized objection to the R&R application of the good faith exception doesn’t cut it. United States v. Hall, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141045 (E.D. Ky. Aug. 8, 2024).*
A warning before deadly force would be used was contrary to the officers’ efforts to de-escalate the situation. Otherwise qualified immunity applies. Eyre v. City of Fairbanks, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 19770 (9th Cir. Aug. 7, 2024) (2-1).*
Plaintiff’s claim that the cell phone company turned over his information in response to a warrant was barred by the statute of limitations. Boyle v. TracFone Wireless, Inc., 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 19789 (11th Cir. Aug. 7, 2024).*
Plaintiff’s decedent was unarmed, but it was apparent that the officer didn’t know it, coupled with his sudden move. There is qualified immunity. Franklin v. Popovich, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 19660 (11th Cir. Aug. 6, 2024).*
Plaintiff inmate’s blood draw was for medical purposes and not for investigation. Therefore, the Fourth Amendment doesn’t apply. Banks v. Bellevue Hosp., 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139463 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 6, 2024).*
Defendant’s Franks challenge fails because he doesn’t show that the affidavit does not show probable cause on the remainder. United States v. Chappell, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140479 (E.D. Mich. Aug. 7, 2024).*
The officers apparently didn’t know that the property to be searched was two residences rather than just one, but defendant and his mother owned it all as tenants in common. That was a reasonable mistake if it was one. Nevertheless, the warrant for a stolen truck was covered by the warrant on the property. United States v. Day, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139601 (D. Mont. Aug. 6, 2024).*
“We conclude that the trial court erred by granting the Juvenile’s motion to suppress and dismissing his charges. Contrary to the trial court’s conclusion, a police officer’s sight or smell of marijuana creates probable cause of marijuana possession, even if a police officer could possibly confuse illegal marijuana with legal hemp. We therefore reverse the trial court’s orders.” In re J.B.P., 2024 N.C. App. LEXIS 616 (Aug. 6, 2024).*
“This case is similar to Lavan where the Ninth Circuit stated that when the City of Los Angeles destroyed unhoused Plaintiffs’ unabandoned personal possessions left on public sidewalks, those seizures were unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment. 693 F.3d at 1030. Here, the Plaintiffs have plausibly alleged that the City routinely destroys their property without adequate notice and opportunity to prevent its destruction. They have stated claims under the Fourth Amendment.” Prado v. City of Berkeley, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139836 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 6, 2024).*
Defendant’s invocation of his right to refuse a consent search that came out in the defense cross was not plain error, and it was slight compared to the record as a whole. United States v. Ortiz, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 19737 (8th Cir. Aug. 7, 2024).*
Plaintiff failed to show that the Fourth Amendment claim was clearly established. St. George v. City of Lakewood, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 19757 (10th Cir. Aug. 7, 2024).*
Posted inAbandonment, Consent, Qualified immunity|Comments Off on N.D.Cal.: Seizure or destruction of homeless persons’ unabandoned personal property violated 4A
During this stop, the officer finally asked about drugs in the car. “At this moment, the encounter became intimidating, and a reasonable person in Tripp’s situation would not feel free to leave. The encounter thus ripened into a Terry, or investigative, stop, which required reasonable suspicion that Tripp was engaged in criminal activity.” The officer thought a straw was drug paraphernalia, but it was a clean drinking straw, and any reasonable suspicion evaporated. Motion to suppress granted. United States v. Tripp, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139539 (D. Mont. Aug. 6, 2024).
There was probable cause for the warrant on the totality of the affidavit. A typo didn’t create a Franks issue. “Despite the ‘West v. East’ error on the face of the search warrant, Leon is applicable because defendant Jordan has not established that a Franks violation occurred.” United States v. Jordan, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139481 (E.D. Mo. June 18, 2024),* adopted, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 138249 (E.D. Mo. Aug. 5, 2024).*
Probable cause developed during the traffic stop. United States v. Sena, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139672 (D.N.M. Aug. 6, 2024).*
Posted inProbable cause, Reasonable suspicion|Comments Off on D.Mont.: Asking about drugs made this stop intimidating and governed by Rodrieguez
The welfare check of defendant’s house was reasonable. Yet, in this state, the community caretaker function cannot be based on an alleged crime alone. State v. Case, 2024 MT 165 (Aug. 6, 2024).
Defendant’s 2255 ineffective assistance claim is rejected. Here there was child porn involved, and defendant’s conviction and sentence were not affected by any drug evidence. “Counsel smartly noted this at the suppression hearing: ‘It’s not important to [this] case so I don’t care about that. I mean, that’s a state case with a state possession.’ [Tr. 5-6, 9]. This wasn’t deficient performance, but a sound tactical decision.” Moreover, stretched to its extreme, the 2255 search argument loses on the merits or lack of standing. United States v. Wood, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139183 (N.D. Ind. Aug. 6, 2024).*
The 911 report was somewhat ambiguous, but, on the officers’ arrival at the scene, reasonable suspicion developed. United States v. Richard, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139342 (W.D. Tenn. Aug. 6, 2024).*
"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.
