A. Expectation of privacy

State v. Steven J. Schaefer, 2015AP2555-CR, District 3, 11/1/16 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) Schaefer challenged evidence seized after he was arrested outside his home. He argued the arresting officer entered the curtilage of his home without a warrant. The court of appeals holds the area was not curtilage under the… Read more

State v. Andrew S. Sato, 2015AP1815-CR, 10/18/2016, District 1 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs) Police investigating an armed robbery the previous evening learned their suspect was at home in his apartment. One officer initiated a “knock and talk,” banging on the front door of the apartment and yelling for five to ten… Read more

United States v. Frank Caira, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals No. 14-1003, 2016 WL 4376472, 8/17/16 During a drug investigation the government issued subpoenas to two internet service providers—Microsoft, the owner of Hotmail, and Comcast the owner of an Internet Protocol address associated with the Hotmail address being investigated. The subpoenas provided information that led investigators to… Read more

So held the 10th Circuit in U.S. v. Ackerman last week.  The case “considers how the Fourth Amendment applies to a child pornography detection system set up by Internet service providers and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).” In a post “for serious 4th Amendment nerds” Orin Kerr pokes holes in the… Read more

The Volokh Conspiracy sums up this case beautifully: “Nebraska drug doggie alerts on vehicle. Officers find no drugs but do find a duffel bag with many credit cards, debit cards, and gift cards. Eighth Circuit (over a dissent): No Fourth Amendment violation to scan the cards’ magnetic stripes (which revealed them to be counterfeit).” Read the decision… Read more

United States v. Eugene A. Sweeney, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals No. 14-3785, 5/9/16 The police officers’ search of the basement of the apartment building where an armed robbery suspect lived was neither a trespass nor an invasion of the apartment dwellers’ curtilage. Thus, the gun found during the search was lawfully seized and not… Read more

United States v. Lonnie Whitaker, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Nos. 14-3290 & 14-3506, 4/12/16 Taking a drug-sniffing dog into the locked, second-floor hallway of an apartment building where there were at least six to eight apartments without first obtaining a warrant violated the Fourth Amendment under Florida v. Jardines, 133 S. Ct. 1409 (2013), and… Read more