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IL: Forced blood draw violates state statute, despite cases elsewhere finding them constitutionally reasonable

FourthAmendment.com - News - Mon, 2026-05-11 11:21

A forced blood draw in a DUI case was barred by statute. The state’s reliance on State v. Krause, 484 N.W.2d 347 (Wis. Ct. App. 1992) (permitting blood draw from hogtied suspect) and Schmerber is inapposite. People v. Farris, 2012 Ill. App. LEXIS 265, 2012 IL App (3d) 100199 (April 10, 2012):

[**P21] In addition to Krause and Schmerber, the State cites to several cases which stand for the proposition that forced blood draws are objectively reasonable and can pass constitutional muster under the fourth amendment. See State v. Clary, 2 P.3d 1255, 1256 (Ariz. App. Ct. 2000); Carleton v. Superior Court, 216 Cal. Rptr. 890 (Cal. Ct. App. 1985); State v. Worthington, 65 P.3d 211 (Idaho Ct. App. 2002); State v. Lanier, 452 N.W.2d 144 (S.D. 1990). However, we find each of these cases to be irrelevant to the question before us, which is whether the trial court correctly held that a forced blood draw was not permitted under the Vehicle Code. The trial court, relying upon our supreme court's holding in Jones, held that force is not permitted under the statute. Specifically, the trial court relied upon the Jones court's "clarification" that it was "not suggest[ing] that a DUI arrestee's lack of a right to refuse chemical testing under section 11-501.2(c)(2) permits law enforcement officers to use physical force in obtaining blood, urine, and breath samples." Jones, 214 Ill. 2d at 201.

Michelle Obama endorses husband on 'Colbert'

CNN - Politics - Mon, 2026-05-11 11:21
First lady Michelle Obama jokes about her husband with Stephen Colbert.
Categories: CNN, Issues, Politics

Brazile: More nasty ads coming?

CNN - Top Stories - Mon, 2026-05-11 11:21
Donna Brazile says Mitt Romney's relentlessly negative campaign in the primaries will come back to haunt him
Categories: CNN, News

MA: Defendant's threat to shoot a witness to a crime was PC to search his car for a weapon

FourthAmendment.com - News - Mon, 2026-05-11 11:21

Defendant was accused of twice getting out of his car and battering his girlfriend. When police arrived, they had a reliable report that defendant might be armed because the threatened to shoot a bystander witness, and that justified a search of his car under the automobile exception. Commonwealth v. Gouse, 2012 Mass. LEXIS 255 (April 10, 2012).*

Defendant’s driving back and forth three times in five minutes in front of a construction site at 1a.m. where anhydrous ammonia was stored was reasonable suspicion. “No one was supposed to be at the construction site at that hour. Officers can consider the lateness of the hour in determining whether criminal activity was afoot.” State v. Morgan, 2012 Mo. App. LEXIS 478 (April 10, 2012).*

CT: Jumping out of a hotel room window in flight from the police was abandonment of the room

FourthAmendment.com - News - Mon, 2026-05-11 11:21

Defendant jumped out a hotel room window in flight from the police, and this was an abandonment of the room. He also abandoned a pair of socks on the roof the hotel. State v. Jackson, 2012 Conn. LEXIS 128 (April 1, 2012):

The defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the hotel room or in the personal effects that he left there after he jumped out of the hotel window, and even if he had not manifested a subjective intent to abandon the hotel room, the New York City police officers' initial entry into the hotel room was justified under the emergency exception to the warrant requirement because they reasonably could have believed that there might be other persons in the hotel room who were injured or who needed assistance and, therefore, they were not required to obtain a search warrant before seizing the defendant's clothes for safekeeping pursuant to their community caretaking function; furthermore, the mere transfer of the items from the New York City police to the New Haven police did not violate the defendant's fourth amendment rights, the transfer having involved no additional intrusion into the defendant's privacy and the subsequent forensic testing of the defendant's pants and belt having been performed pursuant to a search warrant.

BMI sale puts 1,200 jobs at risk

BBC - News - Mon, 2026-05-11 11:21
British Airways owner IAG says its deal to buy BMI from Lufthansa for £172.5m could result in the loss of up to 1,200 jobs.
Categories: BBC, News

J.K. Rowling's next book: 'The Casual Vacancy'

AP - World News - Mon, 2026-05-11 11:21
LONDON (AP) -- She may not be able to match the phenomenal success of the Harry Potter series, but J.K. Rowling has high hopes for "The Casual Vacancy," her first novel for adults. The title was announced Thursday by Little, Brown & Co. along with a brief plot synopsis for the book....

US state set to repeal executions

BBC - News - Mon, 2026-05-11 11:21
Following a 10-hour debate, legislators in the US state of Connecticut vote to abolish the death penalty
Categories: BBC, News

Big Buck's claims record 17th win

BBC - News - Mon, 2026-05-11 11:21
Big Buck's wins for the 17th successive time in the Liverpool Hurdle on the opening day of the Aintree Grand National meeting.
Categories: BBC, News

Gerbil pal arrived before police

BBC - News - Mon, 2026-05-11 11:21
A friend of murdered gangland figure Kevin Carroll arrived at the scene of his shooting before police, a court has heard.
Categories: BBC, News

Prosecutors face hurdles in Trayvon Martin case

AP - U.S. News - Mon, 2026-05-11 11:21
SANFORD, Fla. (AP) -- Prosecutors face steep hurdles to win a second-degree murder conviction against neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in the shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, experts say....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

CA university slammed for pepper-spraying students

AP - U.S. News - Mon, 2026-05-11 11:21
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- State lawmakers are calling for greater oversight of campus police departments after investigators blasted administrators and officers at the University of California, Davis, for pepper-spraying demonstrators - a police action that drew widespread criticism after a video went viral....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

E.D.Cal.: Positive alerts by "sophisticated" dogs that can discriminate currency from drugs have more value

FourthAmendment.com - News - Mon, 2026-05-11 11:21

Positive alerts by "sophisticated" dogs that can discriminate currency from drugs have more value that "unsophisticated" dogs. United States v. Approximately $77,000.00 in United States Currency, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50404 (E.D. Cal. April 10, 2012):

The Ninth Circuit has given probative weight to positive alerts by "sophisticated" dogs - dogs that react only to ephemeral by-product of narcotics and not to commonly circulated currency - to show that currency is substantially connected to illegal drug activity. See United States v. $42,500 in U.S. Currency, 283 F.3d [977,] at 982; United States v. $22,474 in U.S. Currency, 246 F.3d at 1216.

More specifically, the Ninth Circuit has explained its jurisprudence on unsophisticated versus sophisticated dog alerts to currency:

In addition, Sutter alerted to the money found in Hysell's luggage. Sutter's handler submitted a declaration stating that Sutter does not alert to cocaine residue found on currency in general circulation. Rather, Sutter alerts to a by-product of cocaine which does not linger on currency. We recently held that a sophisticated dog alert, where the dog reacts only to ephemeral by-products of narcotics and not to commonly circulated currency, is an important factor in determining probable cause. See United States v. $22,474 in U.S. Currency, 246 F.3d 1212, 1216 (9th Cir. 2001) (explaining that because of more sophisticated training a narcotics canine would not alert to money unless it had recently been in the proximity of cocaine). The evidence of Sutter's sophisticated training is undisputed, and therefore, Sutter's alert is relevant in determining probable cause. ...

United States v. $42,500 in U.S. Currency, 283 F.3d at 982-983. Here, Claimant relies on the two cases relied upon by claimant Hysell in the aforementioned excerpt. As explained above however, where a canine is trained not to alert to currency in general circulation, but instead the canine alerts only to the by product of illegal narcotics, that evidence is to be afforded greater weight in a determination of this kind.

It thus appears that Cody's training lends itself to a finding that Cody is in fact a "sophisticated" dog. Therefore, Cody's alert to the presence of illegal drugs on the currency found in Claimant's vehicle is strong evidence going to the determination of whether the Government had met its burden.

Woman 'woke confused after rape'

BBC - News - Mon, 2026-05-11 11:21
A court hears how a woman told police she woke up naked and "confused" in a double bed after being allegedly raped by two footballers.
Categories: BBC, News

Top ally of Ukraine's ex-PM Tymoshenko sentenced

AP - World News - Mon, 2026-05-11 11:21
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) -- A Ukrainian court on Thursday sentenced a top ally of jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to five years in prison for abuse of office....

Submarine 'submerged in lough'

BBC - News - Mon, 2026-05-11 11:21
Environment Minister Alex Attwood has said what appears to be a submarine or boat is identified submerged in Lough Foyle.
Categories: BBC, News

Hamster stuck to cage with magnet

BBC - News - Mon, 2026-05-11 11:21
A hamster becomes stuck to the side of its cage after chewing on a magnet at a family home in Northamptonshire.
Categories: BBC, News

Wrong turn grants glimpse behind N. Korean curtain

AP - World News - Mon, 2026-05-11 11:21
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) -- The press bus took a wrong turn Thursday. And suddenly, everything changed in the official showcase of North Korean achievement....

Serb police find stolen Cezanne

BBC - News - Mon, 2026-05-11 11:21
A Cezanne painting - reportedly worth $109m (£68.3m) - stolen in a raid on a Swiss museum in 2008 is recovered in Serbia.
Categories: BBC, News

Report: It's everyone for himself on sinking ships

AP - World News - Mon, 2026-05-11 11:21
STOCKHOLM (AP) -- A hundred years after the Titanic sank, two Swedish researchers say when it comes to sinking ships, the concept of male chivalry is "a myth" and more men generally survive such disasters than women and children....
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