VoteKansas.org

The first smartphone powered by an Intel chip is to go on sale in India on 23 April.

Readers' photos on the theme of fields

Uncorroborated anonymous tip did not provide reasonable suspicion. United States v. Melendez, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53663 (S.D. Fla. April 4, 2012).*

Civil case over search that led to revocation was not barred by Heck because the evidence was admissible, illegal search or not. Henderson v. Davis, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 7646 (11th Cir. April 17, 2012).*

Search warrant after controlled buy was not stale because the collective information showed a continuing operation. United States v. Tisdale, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53294 (D. Kan. April 16, 2012).*

“[A]ny ordinary visitor to Defendant's apartment would have understood Defendant's actions to constitute assent to Officer Jordan's entry into Defendant's apartment.” United States v. Murphy, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52246 (E.D. Tenn. April 13, 2012).*

Defendant lived in the basement of Flynn’s house in St. Louis, and Flynn discovered a meth lab. Flynn called the police and consented to their entry and search. Defendant’s relationship to the basement was difficult and uncertain, so the court assumes standing, but more than one person stayed down there, and it wasn’t clear what his privacy relationship was to the basement. It seemed that it wasn’t sufficiently private that Flynn couldn’t consent. United States v. Hendrix, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53823 (E.D. Mo. March 30, 2012):

In the circumstances of this case, Officer Page and the other officers acted reasonably. When they arrived at 3232 California, they knocked on the front door and it was opened by a man who said he was Thomas Flynn who had phoned them earlier about a meth lab in his basement, operated by a friend of his. He then led the officers to the basement door, which was already open. Flynn had not asked anyone for permission to admit the officers into the residence nor to take the officers to the doorway leading to the basement stairs. His actions reasonably led the officers to believe that, like the woman in the doorway with the baby on her hip in Matlock, Flynn showed he belonged in the residence and had sufficient authority over it, including the basement area, to further authorize the police to enter not only the residence generally but also to go downstairs to investigate the possibly criminal activity about which he had called them. United States v. Almeida-Perez, 549 F.3d 1162, 1170-71 (8th Cir. 2008). The officers' entry into the basement room of defendant was constitutionally authorized by the consent of Thomas Flynn.

Chemicals fire could curb global car production

LA BLANCA, Texas (AP) -- A sheriff says masked gunmen opened fire at an illegal cockfight in rural South Texas, leaving three people dead and eight wounded....

BEIJING (AP) -- China's leaders want Bo Xilai's downfall seen as a blow against corruption - not as part of a power struggle. But with a second, even higher-ranking Politburo member now suspected to be under pressure, it will become difficult to avoid the perception of all-out infighting....

Thousands of fans attend the funeral of footballer Piermario Morosini, who collapsed and died during a match in Italy.

Inconsistencies in the officers’ testimony led the court to conclude that consent was not given after a knock-and-talk. United States v. Miranda-Cortez, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53402 (D. Utah April 16, 2012)*:

Because of these inconsistencies and the government's failure to acknowledge or otherwise convincingly explain them, the court concludes that the testimony of the officers involved in this operation is not sufficient to sustain the government's burden to prove it had freely obtained consent to search the basement apartment. The court wants to be clear that it is not impugning the testimony of the officers. Nothing before the court suggests that the officers have intentionally attempted to mislead the court or give knowingly false testimony. Indeed, it is more likely that the officers were distracted by their roles in continuing their deception to gain access to the house and were so overly concentrated on finding the drugs once they entered the basement, that they failed to appreciate all the details of what was occurring.

The officers may well have concluded that they had sufficient evidence to proceed without a warrant. Uncertainty, however, must weigh in favor of the constitutional protections. A pretext pursued with the stated objective of gaining entrance without a warrant may prematurely lead officers to believe they have succeeded in obtaining sufficient concessions from the home occupant to claim it was consent. With no exigencies evident here to justify a departure from the constitutional requirement, the officers rely on the consent exception, which is cluttered with uncertainties and contradictions.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- A convicted murderer and another inmate remained at large after escaping from a Kansas jail where they'd been transferred because of overcrowding at a state prison. Two others were apprehended, one after he turned himself in at a Walmart in Nebraska....

Anders Behring Breivik, who admits killing 77 people in Norway last summer, used the video game "Modern Warfare 2" as training, he testified Thursday.

A hen in Sri Lanka gives birth to a live chick without an egg, in a new twist on the age-old question of which came first.

PARIS (AP) -- France saw its borrowing costs edge up in bond auctions Thursday that sold (EURO)10.5 billion ($13.8 billion) in medium-term debt, as concerns about Europe's debt crisis resurface....

Manchester United remain the world's richest football club, according to Forbes magazine.

Nick Clegg is criticised for advertising unpaid Liberal Democrat internships after saying positions should be "properly remunerated".

Guinea-Bissau's military junta says it will hold elections in two years following their coup last week - a move unlikely to appease regional mediators.

A consultation that led to the proposed closure of a paediatric heart unit at a west London hospital was lawful, the Court of Appeal rules.

Three men are jailed for life for a shooting in a south London shop which left a five-year-old girl paralysed.

President Barack Obama leads tributes to TV veteran Dick Clark, who has died at the age of 82.

Force India team members flee as petrol bombs are hurled over their vehicle on their way back from the Bahrain Grand Prix track.