Casual readers know that we try to keep abreast of federal criminal cases, including appeals of criminal convictions involving decisions where the issue revolves around whether a particular search or seizure of evidence falls within the Fourth Amendment. As many of us know, if evidence is seized in violation of the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, such…
Continue reading ›Criminal cases involving search and seizures by police officers continue to bedevil the courts more than two centuries after the Fourth Amendment was added to our Constitution. As we all know, the Fourth Amendment says that there cannot be a “search” or a subsequent “seizure” of evidence unless there is a search warrant, or unless…
Continue reading ›In a case that criminal defense lawyers here in Atlanta and around the country need to all read, yesterday the United States Supreme Court ruled that the police can take DNA samples from people who are merely arrested for serious crimes, and that the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution does not prohibit this…
Continue reading ›Criminal defense lawyers here in Atlanta, throughout Georgia and the rest of the Nation, whether in federal court or state court, all need to be aware of developments in the law, especially such hot topic areas like search and seizure. Many attorneys are able to either win, or at least put their client’s case in…
Continue reading ›We occasionally handle cases in Florida, and since I am also licensed in the Sunshine State we pay attention to legal issues happening there. As readers of this Blog realize, I have a fascination with how the law is developing in the intersection between modern technology and the Eighteenth Century rules enshrined in our Fourth…
Continue reading ›Earlier this week, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Davis v. United States. The Court will resolve a federal circuit court split: whether the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule applies to a search that is later ruled unconstitutional. This March, the Eleventh Circuit held in Davis that the exclusionary rule does not apply…
Continue reading ›The United States Supreme Court announced last month that it will review a case involving the “exigent circumstances” exception to the Constitution’s requirement that the police get a search warrant before conducting a search or seizing property. We regularly confront similar matters when we litigate federal cases here in Georgia, Alabama and Florida and when…
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