30 results for 'cat:"Murder" AND cat:"Search"'.
J. Makar finds the trial court improperly denied defendant's motion to suppress in a case in which defendant is charged with first-degree murder. The sheriff's deputies in defendant's case exceeded what is constitutionally permissible for a warrantless "knock and talk" visit when, after their two knocks on defendant's door went unanswered, they used a flashlight to look through opaque black vinyl wrapping on defendant's front porch screens. The case is remanded for further proceedings. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Makar, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 22-2108, Categories: Constitution, murder, search
J. Kafker affirms defendant’s murder conviction after he shot a man four times, killing him, after they argued at a barbershop. Although the warrant to search defendant’s apartment was not signed by a judge, the judge did sign the search warrant affidavit and submitted a sworn affidavit that indicated she planned to sign the warrant, so the lack of signature on the warrant itself was a clerical error, and not one that would make the warrant invalid. Affirmed.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Kafker, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: SJC-09903, Categories: Firearms, murder, search
J. Cochran affirms the defendant's second-degree murder convictions, finding that officers' use of a "geofence warrant" to obtain information about cellular devices that may have been in the area near where a victim's body was found. Such warrants, which in this case requested anonymized device data from Google on the devices that entered a particular area during a particular time frame, then sought further information from Google for users identified as relevant to the investigation, are not categorically impermissible under either the Minnesota or U.S. Constitutions, and this particular geofence warrant was supported by probable cause and was sufficiently particular to satisfy the requirements of the Fourth Amendment and the privacy provisions of the Minnesota Constitution. Affirmed.
Court: Minnesota Court Of Appeals, Judge: Cochran, Filed On: April 1, 2024, Case #: A22-1579, Categories: murder, search, Civil Rights
J. Bethel finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The trial court correctly denied defendant's motion to suppress evidence found pursuant to a search warrant for his phone records. The warrant affidavit established probable cause to support the issuance of the warrant based on defendant's behavior, his interactions with police and his connections to the victim, his wife, and the home where the murder occurred. Defendant was using his phone around the time of the murder and the magistrate judge could reasonably infer that his phone records would contain information related to his involvement in the crime. Defendant's trial counsel was not deficient for failing to challenge the warrant based on the claim that it was insufficiently particularized. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Bethel, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: S23A1063, Categories: murder, search
[Modified.] J. Grimes deletes one footnote with no change in judgment. The trial court properly denied defendant's motion to suppress a firearm, ammunition and methamphetamine that police found in his car during a Utah traffic stop, as well as statements he made to an undercover officer in jail. The traffic stop was not unduly prolonged and he consented to the search. Voluntary statements to the officer posing as a fellow inmate came after he invoked his Miranda rights but were not made in a coercive atmosphere dominated by police. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Grimes, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: B317938, Categories: Miranda, murder, search
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J. Grimes finds the trial court properly denied defendant's motion to suppress a firearm, ammunition and methamphetamine that police found in his car during a Utah traffic stop, as well as statements he made to an undercover officer in jail. The traffic stop was not unduly prolonged and he consented to the search. Voluntary statements to the officer posing as a fellow inmate came after he invoked his Miranda rights but were not made in a coercive atmosphere dominated by police. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Grimes, Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: B317938, Categories: Miranda, murder, search
[Consolidated.] J. Warren finds that the trial court properly granted defendant's motion to suppress evidence related to one victim's shooting death provided to a detective by defendant's previous attorney. Defendant was indicted for murder and other offenses. The attorney's disclosures violated attorney-client privilege. The state cannot mention the attorney as the source of any physical evidence given to the detective. The trial court correctly denied defendant's motion to suppress cell phone records related to both shootings. Both search warrants were supported by probable cause and the affidavits allowed the judges to reasonably infer that one of the target phone numbers belonged to defendant. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Warren, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: S23A0900, Categories: Evidence, murder, search
J. Pierre-Louis finds that the appellate division properly remanded the issue of whether a bullet extracted from defendant's body during a surgical procedure was admissible in his attempted murder trial because the state had applied for a search warrant, and the bullet constituted physical evidence related to criminal offenses. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Supreme Court, Judge: Pierre-Louis , Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: A-34-22, Categories: murder, search
J. Pohlman finds that the trial court properly applied the emergency aid exception to the Fourth Amendment to deny defendant's motion to suppress murder evidence police found during a warrantless search of his home. Police were acting on an objectively reasonable belief based on circumstantial and visual evidence that an adult and an infant required emergency aid when they entered. And defendant's state constitutional claim that the subjective intent of the police should be scrutinized also fails because police had an objectively reasonable basis to think there was an emergency. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Supreme Court, Judge: Pohlman, Filed On: February 29, 2024, Case #: 20220560, Categories: murder, search
[Modified.] J. Dato replaces a sentence and two images and denies a rehearing with no change in judgment. The trial court properly denied defendant's motion to suppress video recordings from a city's stationary streetlight cameras that were used to identify his vehicle in a murder trial. Police did not conduct a search when accessing the recordings since he did not have a privacy interest in footage of him on public streets. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Dato, Filed On: February 15, 2024, Case #: D080606, Categories: murder, search
J. Dato finds that the trial court properly denied defendant's motion to suppress video recordings from a city's stationary streetlight cameras that were used to identify his vehicle in a murder trial. Police did not conduct a search when accessing the recordings since he did not have a privacy interest in footage of him on public streets. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Dato, Filed On: January 25, 2024, Case #: D080606, Categories: murder, search
J. Ayers finds the lower court properly denied defendant’s petition for post-conviction relief. Defendant was convicted of second-degree murder for shooting his wife in the face, killing her, and was sentenced to serve 22 years in confinement. Defendant argues he was ineffectively represented by appellate counsel because he did not appeal the denial of his motion to suppress evidence obtained from a search warrant. The instant court finds that even if appellate counsel had included an argument for the suppression issue, it would not have affected the outcome of the trial. Affirmed.
Court: Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: Ayers, Filed On: November 22, 2023, Case #: W2022-01494-CCA-R3-PC, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, murder, search
J. Wilson finds that the appellate division should have suppressed title to a Jaguar allegedly given to defendant for helping murder a rival drug dealer after police entered his apartment to arrest him without a warrant because police lacked consent to either enter the building or the apartment itself. Reversed.
Court: New York Court Of Appeals, Judge: Wilson, Filed On: November 21, 2023, Case #: 84, Categories: Evidence, murder, search
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of second degree murder and attempted murder after his accomplice shot at another vehicle because the theory that defendant's cell phone records might indicate his involvement were supported by witness testimony and information contained in the search warrant application. Meanwhile, defendant failed to pursue suppression in contending he had been questioned by police without a lawyer. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: November 17, 2023, Case #: KA 18-00291, Categories: Evidence, murder, search
J. Hudson finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for capital murder. After the victim failed to show up for work, she was discovered in her house, dead from a gunshot wound. Defendant was stopped as a person of interest and a handgun purchased by the victim four days earlier was found in his vehicle. Forensic analysis revealed that it was the weapon used in the murder. Because a police officer can make an investigatory stop without violating the Fourth Amendment if he has reasonable suspicion the court properly denied defendant’s motion to suppress evidence from the stop. No prejudicial error is found. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Supreme Court, Judge: Hudson, Filed On: October 26, 2023, Case #: CR-22-651, Categories: Evidence, murder, search
J. Traynor finds that the lower court properly declined to suppress evidence of a body discovered lying motionless at the foot of a stairway when police, who had been trying to locate the mother of a recent arrestee's children, pushed open the back door. Entering the dwelling was reasonable because police could see the prostrate form of the woman at the base of a staircase from the back window. Affirmed.
Court: Delaware Supreme Court, Judge: Traynor, Filed On: October 24, 2023, Case #: 376, 2022, Categories: murder, search
J. Deahl holds the trial court properly refused to suppress evidence found on a juvenile's cell phone during his trial on aiding and abetting murder and related charges. His mother had the authority to consent to a search of the phone, as the juvenile lived with her, she had purchased the phone and the phone was in her name. Affirmed.
Court: DC Court of Appeals, Judge: Deahl, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 21-FS-0478 , Categories: Juvenile Law, murder, search
J. Perluss finds that the trial court properly admitted evidence of defendants' whereabouts at the time of a murder that police secured using a geofence search warrant. Though the warrant was impermissibly broad under the Fourth Amendment, police had a good faith, reasonable reliance on the geofence warrant, which was still a novel investigative tool in 2019. Also, the warrant complied with the Electronic Communications Privacy Act since it did not target any individual phone number, account or email address. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Perluss, Filed On: August 16, 2023, Case #: B318310, Categories: murder, search
J. Hixson finds the lower court properly convicted defendant of first degree premeditated murder for shooting a man in the back, killing him. Defendant’s argument regarding the validity of the search warrant used to search his residence is waived because he failed to properly argue the matter before the trial court. Evidence is sufficient to support his conviction and sentence of life imprisonment. Affirmed.
Court: Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: Hixson, Filed On: August 9, 2023, Case #: E2022-00207-CCA-R3-CD, Categories: Evidence, murder, search
J. Fields finds that probable cause and particularity supported a geofence warrant that yielded location data from Google that put defendant at the scene of a murder. The geography and time frame of the warrant was narrow enough to avoid identifying uninvolved people. The novelty of geofence warrants at the time it was issued satisfies the good faith exception to warrant requirements. The warrant met the particularity requirements of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and violations of the Act's notice provisions do not require suppression.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Fields, Filed On: July 3, 2023, Case #: E078954, Categories: murder, search
J. Ellis finds that the lower court properly denied defendant's motion to suppress his murder confession. Defendant painted himself into a corner by lying to detectives. The detectives may have "played along" rather than disclosing their doubts, but that does not amount to police coercion. Further, the police did not inappropriately promise defendant any leniency based on his confession to the crime. Affirmed.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Ellis, Filed On: June 27, 2023, Case #: 191699, Categories: murder, search, Self Incrimination
J. Goldberg affirms a trial court’s evidentiary rulings against a defendant ultimately convicted of auto theft and being a probation violator, rejecting the defendant’s assertion the trial justice erred by failing to suppress certain evidence collected as a result of a warrantless search that police homicide detectives conducted of his real-time cell-site location information (CSLI). The trial justice “clearly erred” in determining how much time it would have taken the detectives to obtain a warrant for defendant’s real-time CSLI, “we conclude that there was a ‘compelling necessity for immediate action’ that would not brook the delay of obtaining a warrant.” Based on additional evidence, any error in denying defendant’s request to suppress his CSLI was “harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court, Judge: Goldberg, Filed On: June 20, 2023, Case #: 2019-388, Categories: Constitution, murder, search
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of second-degree murder. Search warrants for cellular data and electronic devices were not overly broad since they could connect defendant to locations at which physical evidence had been tampered with and where the victim's body had been burned in a fire pit. Meanwhile, a prospective juror's statements that she might be preoccupied with work-related issues did not indicate her preoccupations would affect her ability to be fair and impartial. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: June 9, 2023, Case #: KA 18-00389, Categories: Jury, murder, search
J. Johnson finds that the lower court properly declined to suppress evidence in defendant's murder trial. An officer found a body in a trailer after conducting a community caretaking check, and the lower court found that the community caretaking exception excused the lack of warrant because the officer was concerned for a woman's safety after she did not arrive to an appointment. The officer could see the body in plain view due to the small size of the trailer, did not open any doors or search any spaces, and announced himself clearly before entering. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Supreme Court, Judge: Johnson, Filed On: June 8, 2023, Case #: 101385-0, Categories: Evidence, murder, search
J. Cypher upholds the lower court's denial of defendant's motion to suppress evidence discovered in his vehicle during his trial for the lethal shooting and stabbing of a man who had an affair with defendant's wife. The vehicle, which was parked in defendant's driveway, was not within the curtilage of the home. Affirmed.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Cypher, Filed On: June 5, 2023, Case #: SJC-13239, Categories: murder, search
[Modified.] J. Moore alters one sentence in a murder case opinion with no change in judgment. The DNA evidence collected from the scene of a 1980 rape and murder, along with the opinion of the investigator that defendant was the likely killer, provided a New Mexico court with a reasonable basis for a warrant to search his trash. Also, the state's closing argument gave an accurate description of the burden of proof, so counsel was not ineffective for deciding not to lodge an objection. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Moore, Filed On: June 2, 2023, Case #: G061393, Categories: Dna, murder, search
J. Warren finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder based on armed robbery and a firearm offense. Sufficient evidence was presented at trial to support defendant's murder conviction, including evidence that allowed the jury to infer that defendant shared with two co-conspirators a common criminal intent to rob the victim. The trial court correctly denied defendant's pretrial motions to suppress phone data, phone record and geolocation evidence derived from the execution of three search warrants and evidence found due to the execution of a search warrant on his home. The warrants were not overly broad and there was probable cause to support them. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Warren, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: S23A0276, Categories: murder, Robbery, search
J. Birk finds that the lower court improperly convicted defendant of murder. Defendant and his cell phone were unconstitutionally seized by a sheriff's deputy, which the state acknowledges, but the state fails to show how the attenuation doctrine overcomes the taint of the deputy's conduct. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Birk, Filed On: May 30, 2023, Case #: 83043-1-I, Categories: murder, search
J. Moore finds that DNA evidence collected from the scene of a 1980 rape and murder, along with the opinion of the investigator that defendant was the likely killer, provided a New Mexico court with a reasonable basis for a warrant to search his trash. Also, the state's closing argument gave an accurate description of the burden of proof, so counsel was not ineffective for deciding not to lodge an objection. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Moore, Filed On: May 16, 2023, Case #: G061393, Categories: Dna, murder, search
J. McMillian finds that the trial court improperly granted defendant's motion to suppress evidence from his cell phone location records. Defendant was charged with murder and other offenses. The trial court incorrectly found that a statement in the search warrant affidavit claiming there was "extensive communication" between defendant and the co-defendant was a material falsehood or misrepresentation. There were 27 attempted and completed calls between the two in the 31-hour period around the shooting. The magistrate judge had a substantial basis for finding that probable cause existed to issue the search warrant. Reversed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: McMillian, Filed On: May 16, 2023, Case #: S23A0102, Categories: murder, search