The drug dog’s touching his nose on the car door was not a trespass. State v. Pendleton, 2026 Ida. LEXIS 147 (Oct. 14, 2026).
The search warrant for defendant’s medical records for his DUI with injury was particular. State v. Bradley, 2026 Ga. App. LEXIS 478 (Oct. 14, 2026).*
The officer had reasonable suspicion defendant was involved in drugs and legitimately stopped him for speeding. Within 3½ minutes, they conversed about defendant’s alleged drug involvement and the officer asked for and got consent. The search was valid. State v. Idhen, 2026 MT 246 (Oct. 13, 2026).*
“Defendant Deputies evicted Plaintiff pursuant to a writ of execution and Plaintiff does not otherwise identify any unreasonable uses of force. Therefore, the Court has no factual content to draw any reasonable inference that any deputy may be liable of conduct rising to a Fourth Amendment violation.” Gottfried v. Keystone Prop. Mgmt., LLC, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 234433 (D. Or. Oct. 14, 2026).*
During a traffic stop, officers can run the criminal history of passengers. State v. Pantle, 2026 Wisc. App. LEXIS 1138 (Oct. 14, 2026).
Defendant’s conditional release search one week before the end of his term was based on reasonable suspicion and valid. United States v. Louis, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 31137 (11th Cir. Oct. 13, 2026).*
Fleeing in Minnesota is a felony. Using a PIT maneuver was not clearly established to be excessive force. Pulling a gun on plaintiff until handcuffed wasn’t excessive. Bolibruch v. Frovarp, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 233141 (D. Minn. Oct. 13, 2026).*
The officer complied with the department’s standardized inventory procedure, so the search is valid. United States v. Mays, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 231053 (E.D. Mo. Oct. 8, 2026).*
“Rather, in light of the foregoing authorities, we conclude defendant has failed to establish he has a legitimate privacy interest in the personal information—e.g., his name, date of birth, height, weight, hair color, and eye color—compiled on his identification card. None of the information at issue raises the types of privacy concerns or touches upon the types of privacy interests that have been found to warrant such protection.” People v. St. John, 2026 IL App (4th) 251208, 2026 Ill. App. LEXIS 405 (Oct. 7, 2026).
Officers surveilling an area known for hand-to-hand drug deals saw a group of men probably doing that, and they moved in and defendant fled to an nearby abandoned apartment. They had reasonable suspicion. He also had no standing in a bag left outside the abandoned apartment. United States v. Mayhew, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 232678 (N.D. Ga. Aug. 27, 2026).*
It was reasonable for officer safety to remove a holstered gun from defendant they were arresting who was slumped over the handlebars of his motorcycle before waking him up. People v. Vanpelt, 2026 CO 66 (Oct. 12, 2026).*
A judge gets no qualified or judicial immunity for ordering children locked up for refusing to leave court with a parent they didn’t want to go with. In a prior appeal, “the children were beyond his contempt power and ‘judges do not do double duty as jailers.’” Rockett, 71 F.4th at 672.” Rockett v. Eighmy, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 31078 (8th Cir. Oct. 13, 2026).
The alleged false statement here isn’t material. There was plenty of probable cause. United States v. Aponte, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 231282 (E.D. Pa. Oct. 8, 2026).*
Even if this stop was pretextual based on an anonymous call, there was a factual basis for it, so it was valid. Twelve minutes into the stop defendant fled and took the officers on a high speed chase. It was not unreasonably prolonged under Rodriguez. United States v. Perez, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 232442 (D. Vt. Oct. 8, 2026).*
Just having possession of a car doesn’t show standing. How did it come to be? United States v. Luna-Irizarry, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 232412 (D.P.R. Oct. 8, 2026):
Siccing a police dog on a suspected armed and dangerous burglar that dislodged a Glock with a switch was not unreasonable. Even if it was excessive force, which it wasn’t, exclusion wouldn’t be the proper remedy. United States v. Wilhoite, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 232389 (D. Kan. Oct. 9, 2026):
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Defense counsel wasn’t ineffective for not raising a Franks challenge mid-trial when a participant in the search warrant process had a memory failure on the stand as to something. Offutt v. United States, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 231418 (S.D. Ill. Oct. 8, 2026).*
Defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in a window area of a hallway outside the apartment searched that was just as readily accessible to two other apartments. And, defendant didn’t live in any apartment. United States v. Guerrero, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 231956 (D. Mass. Oct. 9, 2026).*
The court doesn’t have to decide standing or scope of consent. Inevitable discovery applies. The officers plainly had enough information for probable cause and would have otherwise sought a warrant. “The First Circuit has repeatedly found the inevitable discovery doctrine applicable under similar circumstances.” United States v. Sanchez, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 231005 (D. Mass. Oct. 8, 2026).*
Defendant’s cell phone particularity objection to the warrant fails because it showed (1) crime involved, (2) ID’ed them as found on him at time with a gun and drugs, and (3) showed nexus. Also, the good faith exception would apply. United States v. Morgan-Graham, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 231811 (W.D. Pa. Oct. 9, 2026)*:
There was probable cause for the search of defendant’s car. He also claimed that the car was searched before the warrant for it issued. Based on a drone video, defendant was Tasered, and an officer opened and closed the car door, making sure no one else was in it. The court credits that. [Besides, inevitable discovery.] State v. Scott, 2026 La. App. LEXIS 2081 (La. App. 5 Cir Oct. 7, 2026).*
“In the present case, there was uncontroverted testimony that before entering the apartment, North Olmsted police heard an individual say he was ‘tripping,’ that the individual asked for help, and that he requested an ambulance. There also was uncontroverted testimony that unlike in Fisher — and even though subjective belief is irrelevant — North Olmsted police summoned medical aid before entering the dwelling. Indeed, the uncontroverted testimony was that even with medical personnel on the scene, the officers continued to knock and announce themselves. It was not until officers heard a thud or thump, followed by silence, that they decided — in conjunction with medical personnel, no less — to make a warrantless entry.” Defense’s effort to minimize the “thud” doesn’t make the entry unreasonable. State v. Jordan, 2026-Ohio-3956 (8th Dist. Oct. 8, 2026).*
On the totality, there was reasonable suspicion for defendant’s Terry stop and then a frisk of his bag. United States v. Brooks, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 231135 (E.D. Tenn. Oct. 8, 2026).*
“The Court finds that Cruz’s claim fails because, even assuming arguendo that the omissions he cites were material, Agent Jensen lacked the requisite mental state to warrant suppression under Franks. Specifically, after hearing Agent Jensen’s testimony, and considering her demeanor and the credibility and consistency of her answers in light of the record as a whole, the Court finds that she did not act with either the intent to mislead then-Magistrate Judge Roanne L. Mann about the results of her investigation, nor with reckless disregard to whether the information she did provide was misleading.” United States v. Cruz, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 230292 (E.D.N.Y. Oct. 7, 2026).*
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The informant was acting as an agent of the government in conducting the search here. United States v. Minkkinen, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 230696 (S.D. W. Va. Oct. 7, 2026):
Plaintiff suffered from dementia and resisted the police. “We need not decide whether Jaso’s using the taser violated the Fourth Amendment. Even resolving any genuine factual disputes in the plaintiff’s favor, no precedent clearly forbade Jaso from deploying his taser once against the erratic, actively resisting suspect he confronted.” Navejas v. City of El Paso, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 30829 (5th Cir. Oct. 8, 2026).* (Taser should be capitalized.)
The dog sniff did not prolong the stop, and there was reasonable suspicion anyway. The dog alert was then probable cause. United States v. Blackburn, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 229738 (E.D. Tex. Sep. 14, 2026).*
The officer’s claim of reasonable suspicion defendant was armed in his front waistband was belied by the officer’s frisk of the back pockets first. United States v. Hurston, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 230423 (S.D. Ohio Oct. 7, 2026).*
WaPo: After string of crimes, e-bikes and scooters come under scrutiny in D.C. (“‘Alleged crimes involving a Lime vehicle are a tiny fraction of Lime rides but any level of crime is unacceptable,’ Duthely said in a statement. If someone is using a GPS-tracked Lime vehicle to break the law, D.C. police can subpoena that information, Duthely added.”) Not to mention get the credit card information used to rent it.
Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on WaPo: After string of crimes, e-bikes and scooters come under scrutiny in D.C.
Defendant passenger’s detention was lawful when the car was stopped because of a warrant on the owner-driver. Being ordered into the car was also reasonable for officer safety. United States v. Negrete, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 30736 (8th Cir. Oct. 8, 2026).
There was probable cause for the warrant for defendant’s house. The police did a lot to corroborate the informant. Yes, they could have done more, but they did enough to show the informant knew what he was talking about. United States v. Goddard, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 30700 (6th Cir. Oct. 7, 2026).*
Motion to reconsider denied. The court fully considered the case cited, and defense counsel misrepresented the facts of that case in this motion. United States v. Ostein, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 230116 (M.D. Tenn. Oct. 7, 2026).*
Defendant passenger’s detention was lawful when the car was stopped because of a warrant on the owner-driver. Being ordered into the car was also reasonable for officer safety. United States v. Negrete, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 30736 (8th Cir. Oct. 8, 2026).
Officers had probable cause but no exigency for a warrantless entry into defendant’s apartment. Animals were unattended, defendant hadn’t been seen in days, and urine and feces was all they could smell, not dead animals. Therefore, entry suppressed. People v Footman, 2026 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 14222 (Bronx Co. Sep. 18, 2026).*
There was probable cause for a stalking warrant against plaintiff, including his planting a GPS device on the stalkee’s car. Everett v. McCall, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 30696 (11th Cir. Oct. 7, 2026).*
"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.
