Many people in the United States who are being trafficked for sex are U.S. citizens, and the average age at which victims are first trafficked is between 11 and 14. Both wealthy and poor children are at risk of becoming victims of human trafficking, and often the pimps that first solicit victims to be trafficked […]
READ MORECA Moves Toward Regulating — Rather Than Wholly Criminalizing — Salvia
A big hat tip to reader J, who notes that a California bill on salvia divinorum, AB 259, has been passed through committee in a form that simply criminalizes the sale of salvia to a person under the age of 18. Persons who violate that prohibition would be subject to misdemeanor sanctions. When I was […]
READ MORECan Comments on a Police Blog Be the Basis for a Motion to Suppress?
My eyes bugged out a little bit on reading a recent post on the blog of the LAPD that described a “surprise discovery” made by officers serving a warrant at a home in South Los Angeles where stolen property and drugs were found (a screenshot of the post is below in case it later gets edited. Click on […]
READ MOREThe Penn State Federal Grand Jury Subpoena
For whatever reason there was a glitch in my post yesterday and I’ve received a number of comments that folks have not been able to access the federal grand jury subpoena issued to Penn State University about the sordid Sandusky investigation. So, here’s the direct link on the Penn State Not only is the content […]
READ MOREThe New York Times Weighs in on Open File Discovery and Brady
Not sure what prompted it, but the New York Times yesterday had an Opinion piece calling for the Department of Justice to “set a national example” by engaging in open file discovery. Noting that the Senator Stevens case prompted a Department wide review of policies related to the disclosure of Brady evidence (evidence favorable to […]
READ MOREErrors in DNA Match Calculations Show the Fallibility of Scientific Evidence
For many criminal defendants, DNA evidence is the key piece of prosecutorial evidence that results in conviction. A prosecutor has the burden of proving a case beyond a reasonable doubt, and if there are questions about whether you were the person who committed the crime, DNA evidence goes a long way towards showing you were […]
READ MORECA Supremes Grant Review in Warrant Affidavit Case People v. Galland
The California Supreme Court on Wednesday (4/18/07) granted review in People v. Galland, the Fourth District Court of Appeal case whose language was so sharp that it drew coverage from the LA Times. Galland deals with a pet obsession of mine: sealed search warrant affidavits. In general, under California law, the prosecution can seal part […]
READ MORECA 4th District on Warantless Search of Probationer
A police officer can not use a probationer’s search condition to retroactively justify a warrantless detention that begins before the officer learns of the condition, the CA Fourth District Court of Appeal held 1/4/07 in People v. Miller, G033762. The officer in Miller stopped a car purely because of the car was in a dark […]
READ MORECA 1st on Detention By Spotlight, Officer Tone
A police officer who stopped his car about 35 feet away from a man, shined his spotlight directly at the man, and then began to walk briskly toward him while questioning him about his legal status, did in fact “detain” the man by taking these actions, implicating the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and […]
READ MOREArizona v. Johnson: SCOTUS To Roll Back 4th Amendment Protections?
A non-drug law case with important implications for Fourth Amendment restraints on drug law policing, Arizona v. Johnson, is being heard in the United States Supreme Court today. The case is about whether police may “pat frisk” people for weapons in the context of a traffic stop when they think they might be gang members […]
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