Issues

E.D.Tenn.: CI's falsity is not the affiant's under Franks

FourthAmendment.com - News - Sun, 2024-05-12 23:18

The informant’s false statement, comparing grand jury testimony with the affidavit for the search warrant, is not chargeable to the officer under Franks, so the motion is denied. United States v. Neal, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81849 (E.D. Tenn. April 13, 2012).

A game warden received a call about unlawfully taking a deer by three people in a “whitish old Subaru car,” and that justified the stop when it was seen. United States v. Wilks, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82165 (D. Mont. June 12, 2012).*

The USMJ’s findings of voluntary consent is adopted by the USDJ. There is no testimony except that the consent was voluntary. United States v. Talamante-Rodriguez, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82009 (D. Ariz. June 12, 2012).*

Fall back on illness metaphor

Eagle Forum - Sun, 2024-05-12 23:18
NY Times columnist David Brooks writes: Democrats frequently ask me why the Republicans have become so extreme. As they describe the situation, they usually fall back on some sort of illness metaphor. Republicans have a mania. President Obama has said that Republicans have a “fever” that he hopes will break if he is re-elected. Brooks has become the spokesman for Republicans on the NY Times and Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03474078324293158376noreply@blogger.com0

D.Me.: Multifaceted Franks challenge failed because none undermined PC; they could be questions for trial

FourthAmendment.com - News - Sun, 2024-05-12 23:18

Defendant was charged with internet stalking and identity theft for using a false name, and he raised a host of issues over the search warrants, all of which failed. The government did not violate curtilage by pulling into defendant’s driveway to view his house. The defendant lacks standing for the government’s viewing his neighbor’s wifi signal that defendant was accused of hacking. Defendant’s Franks issues are each an overstatement of the situation, and, even so, excluding what he complains of still leaves probable cause. “Most of the issues raised by the defendant are legitimate jury issues for the jury to consider in assessing whether or not the offender is guilty of the crime charged, but they do not meet the Franks standard for an evidentiary hearing on this warrant application.” None of the Franks challenges were material to the finding of probable cause. United States v. Sayer, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82729 (D. Me. June 13, 2012).*

Moral here: Taking the court at face value, none of these Franks challenges were even close. Do you have the time to make a massive Franks challenge that's likely going to fail? Just because the client can pay enough fee to pursue it doesn't mean that you should. Put that time and energy into defending at trial. After all these years, my view of Franks has evolved into a rule of reason: Unless it just screams lie or negligent omission, you lose, so use it to attack the officer's credibility at trial, which is just what this court suggests, reading between the lines. But, even if it doesn't undermine the officer as an exaggeration, does it create a reasonable doubt?

Remember my Rule 1 of the Fourth Amendment: “There are no technicalities.” There used to be, but not anymore. Not in the last 20+ years.

W.D.Ky. provides good example of a defense failure of proof on guest standing

FourthAmendment.com - News - Sun, 2024-05-12 23:18

The defense failed to show guest standing at the hearing, and the court is left with speculation on critical facts. United States v. Wix, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81871 (W.D. Ky. June 13, 2012)*:

In the context of guests in a residence, the Sixth Circuit has broadly interpreted the Fourth Amendment's protections. Overnight guests staying in a residence's common area have standing to challenge a police intrusion and search. See United States v. Pollard, 215 F.3d 643, 647 (6th Cir. 2000) (privacy interest existed for occasional overnight guest who was allowed to stay in residence alone and kept personal belongs in closet). Non-overnight guests have also been permitted to challenge the search of personal items kept in a third-party's residence. United States v. Washington, 573 F.3d 279, 283 (6th Cir. 2009) (citing United States v. Waller, 426 F.3d 838, 844 (6th Cir. 2005)). Suffice it to say, the appeals court has "generously" interpreted the reach of the Fourth Amendment as it pertains to temporary residents of a dwelling. See id.

Nevertheless, this generosity does not arise without some measure of proof by a defendant. Whether an informal sleeping arrangement creates a reasonable expectation of privacy naturally begets a fact-dominated inquiry for a court. Criminal defendants hoping to establish Fourth Amendment standing offer a variety of evidence to show a reasonable expectation of privacy. Factors that courts have considered include how often the defendant stayed in the dwelling, e.g., United States v. Love, 70 F.3d 116, at *4 [published in full-text format at 1995 U.S. App. LEXIS 35493] (6th Cir. 1995) (table) (defendant did not have expectation of privacy in mother's house as he was not an overnight guest and had moved out six months before the search), whether the defendant maintained personal belongings in the residence, e.g., United States v. Robertson, 297 F. App'x 722, 726 (10th Cir. 2008) (defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy when hotel room was not registered in his name and "no personal items indicating an overnight stay were present"), whether the defendant provided any sort of remuneration for the privilege of staying there, e.g., United States v. McRae, 156 F.3d 708, 711 (6th Cir. 1998) (no expectation of privacy where defendant was squatting in building and did not pay rent to the owners of the structure), or whether the defendant could come and go freely, e.g., United States v. Davis, 932 F.2d 752, 756-57 (9th Cir. 1991) (where defendant had key to apartment, could come and go freely, and stored items in an apartment, he had a reasonable expectation of privacy).

Too many questions exist to accurately measure Defendants' legitimate expectation of privacy in the mobile home. How often did Defendants spend the night in the mobile home and on the Property? The Court cannot possibly measure with any accuracy the subjective statement of Dozier that Wix and she stayed there "a lot." When was the last time Dozier and Wix were guests in the mobile home? Dozier admitted during her testimony that she did not spend the previous night in the trailer and the Court does not have additional information on the subject. Did Defendants have permission to stay there from the owner, Clifford Wix? It may be safe to assume so, but no direct evidence on this point was presented during either hearing. Were there any personal belongings of Defendants in the mobile home? Dozier did not offer any proof on this matter and Wix's silence is impossible to measure. Were Defendants providing Clifford Wix some sort of compensation to stay in the mobile home? Again, there is a deficiency in the record on this issue. Did Defendants have a key to mobile home and could they come and go without first obtaining permission from Clifford Wix? No relevant information was offered in this regard. The only verifiable information about which the Court can be sure is Defendants did not own the mobile home and they did not stay there the night before the police raided the Property. 1 HR, DN 41 p. 9-10.

Defendants undoubtedly possessed some connection to the mobile home. However, "the act of staying overnight at a third party residence does not automatically entitle a defendant to the protections of the Fourth Amendment." United States v. Hunt, No. 2:07-CR-284-WKW, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111768, 2008 WL 4080770, at *3 (M.D. Ala. Sept. 3, 2008). The evidence Defendants submitted to the Court falls short of establishing an expectation of privacy in the mobile home. For the Court to find otherwise would be to apply guesswork and conjecture to the present record. Accordingly, Defendants' motion to suppress is improper.

Standing is the defense burden, and they simply failed to adequately pursue it, maybe believing labeling the defendants as "guests" was enough to carry them through the hearing, but it's not.

D.Md.: PC was shown for violations of Clean Water Act

FourthAmendment.com - News - Sun, 2024-05-12 23:18

In a mail fraud for violations of the Clean Air Act, the search warrant for the business’s records was issued with probable cause: “Hailey's inconsistent statements and inability to identify or locate records of the sources of his vegetable oil donors, or the buyer of his equipment, and his provision of a photograph of another facility, ECF No. 62-1, showed that Hailey had probably issued RINs without producing bio-diesel, and fraudulently caused wire transfers. There was ‘a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime [would] be found’ in Hailey’s business records and in his home, office, and production facility.” United States v. Hailey, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82053 (D. Md. June 13, 2012).* [If lack of probable cause is your only issue, you’re almost certainly going to lose. The threshold is just not that high, and a judicial finding of PC is almost unassailable.]

Defense counsel was hardly ineffective for not challenge the search and seizure in this case. The place searched was in “open fields,” a ditch near a road where drugs were hidden across the street. Besides, it’s almost a certainty he lacked standing to challenge the search at all. Nunn v. United States, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81955 (M.D. Ala. May 29, 2012).*

Agent Provocateur at Bilderberg 2012 Tried to Set Up Protesters With Fake Bomb Threat

TruthNews.US - News - Sun, 2024-05-12 23:18
Infowars.com | Jason Bermas conducts an interview with two We Are Change activists who helped confirm our story in regards to an agent provocateur who attempted to set up the protests very early the first morning.

President Obama: The Biggest Government Spender In World History

TruthNews.US - News - Sun, 2024-05-12 23:18
Forbes | The U.S. has never before had a President who thinks so little of the American people that he imagines he can win re-election running on the opposite of reality.

Queen Elizabeth Is A Bloated Parasite

TruthNews.US - News - Sun, 2024-05-12 23:18
Infowars.com | The Transylvanian witch that is perched at top the NWO hates the people of the UK and commonwealth. This blood sucking monster is a chief enemy to humanity!

Unwrapping Western Political Jargon

TruthNews.US - News - Sun, 2024-05-12 23:18
Saman Mohammadi | The crisis in Syria has brought to the center of Western political discussion certain truths that were previously regulated to the "fringe," and subject to ridicule.

The American Spirit

TownHall.com - Columns - Sun, 2024-05-12 23:18
Are America’s best days behind her? Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate in economics, seems to think so. “The American dream is a myth,” he writes in a recent column. 2012-06-17T00:01:00-04:002012-06-17T23:40:02ZEd Feulner
Categories: Issues, TownHall.com

ATT Uverse is Terrible but COMCAST Isn’t Much Better

TownHall.com - Columns - Sun, 2024-05-12 23:18
I know Democrats are all about big government getting bigger. That’s why you can never vote or give money to them. Republicans aren’t much better-but many of them are learning. At least there is a small sliver of hope. 2012-06-17T00:01:00-04:002012-06-17T23:40:02ZJeff Carter
Categories: Issues, TownHall.com

The Futility of Gun Turn-Ins

TownHall.com - Columns - Sun, 2024-05-12 23:18
If you've got some clothes you don't need anymore, you can give them to Goodwill or the Salvation Army. If you have an old car, you can call various organizations to take it away. And if you're in Chicago and have a gun that's burning a hole in your pocket, you can get rid of it on Saturday, no questions asked.2012-06-17T00:01:00-04:002012-06-17T23:40:02ZSteve Chapman
Categories: Issues, TownHall.com

Obama Campaign Unveils Official T-Shirt for 2012

TownHall.com - Columns - Sun, 2024-05-12 23:18
The Obama campaign has already released a theme song and an official cigarette, so I guess it’s appropriate for them to share a 2012 t-shirt for all supporters. 2012-06-17T00:01:00-04:002012-06-17T23:40:02ZDaniel J. Mitchell
Categories: Issues, TownHall.com

Did The President Just Score With The Baptist Church?

TownHall.com - Columns - Sun, 2024-05-12 23:18
Obama's immigration policy shift potentially scores points for the President on both the left and right sides of the political aisle.2012-06-17T00:01:00-04:002012-06-17T23:40:02ZAustin Hill
Categories: Issues, TownHall.com

You Don’t Need to be a Lefty to Support Krugman (You Just Need to be Economically Illiterate)

TownHall.com - Columns - Sun, 2024-05-12 23:18
In a 2002 New York Times editorial Krugman said "To fight this recession the Fed needs…soaring household spending to offset moribund business investment. [So] Alan Greenspan needs to create a housing bubble to replace the Nasdaq bubble." 2012-06-17T00:01:00-04:002012-06-17T23:40:02ZMike Shedlock
Categories: Issues, TownHall.com

Influence Peddling with a Shade of Green

TownHall.com - Columns - Sun, 2024-05-12 23:18
Now there's another one: It involves the largest single loan guarantee of the entire $16 billion program, a current Cabinet Secretary and a former Chief-of-Staff to Vice-President Joe Biden. 2012-06-17T00:01:00-04:002012-06-17T23:40:02ZBob Beauprez
Categories: Issues, TownHall.com

If Republicans Are Smart...

TownHall.com - Columns - Sun, 2024-05-12 23:18
It seems as though the last month has been a gift to Republicans, particularly the Romney campaign.2012-06-17T00:01:00-04:002012-06-17T23:40:02ZDerek Hunter
Categories: Issues, TownHall.com

The Liberal Tax Myth

TownHall.com - Columns - Sun, 2024-05-12 23:18
What has actually happened is that at the same time Derby boosted its property tax rate, it also altered its assessed values for the properties to which it would be imposed2012-06-17T00:01:00-04:002012-06-17T23:40:02ZPolitical Calculations
Categories: Issues, TownHall.com
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