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WACO, Texas — Police officers suddenly rushed the young man wearing a T-shirt, shorts and a baseball cap as he walked out of a motel toward an idling cab near a Texas Army post.

They ordered him to lie face down, took off his backpack and then questioned him in ...

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — A former Rutgers University student who used a webcam to spy on his gay roommate was sentenced Monday to just 30 days in jail — a punishment that disappointed some activists but came as a relief to others who feared he would be made a scapegoat ...

Defendant had the burden of showing his reasonable expectation of privacy in heavily fire damaged premises, and he showed he retained a reasonable expectation of privacy in the basement office area suffering only water and smoke damage. The first floor was open to the world, but the basement was not and it was “perilous” to even attempt to get to it. United States v. Rahman, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 155131 (W.D. Wis. November 10, 2011):

The court concludes that when it comes to determining Rahman's expectation of privacy, the circumstances present at the time of the search control. On the date of search, from the perspective of the investigators at the scene and Rahman himself, Rahman was the valid lease-holder of the property. Subsequent actions, even if characterized as retroactive so as to cover the time of the searches, cannot terminate a reasonable expectation of privacy any more than some after-the-fact paperwork could serve to retroactively create a reasonable expectation of privacy where none had existed.

Considering all the relevant factors, although the court considers it to be a very close call, the court concludes that the nature and the extent of the damage affecting the basement was not so extensive so as to eliminate any reasonable expectation of privacy in the basement. Entering the basement would have violated the city's condemnation order but the court cannot easily dismiss the fact that "private effects ... remain[ed] on the fire-damaged premises," Tyler, 436 U.S. at 505, which in this case included items such as receipts, (Docket No. 31 at 128; see also Ex. D-6 (depicting toolset)). Therefore, it is the conclusion of this court that a person who exhibits an actual or subjective expectation of privacy in the basement of the destroyed restaurant would have an interest that society should recognize as reasonable.

Defendant’s stepdaughter who was at best an overnight guest at defendant’s house just passing through on a trip was not able to legally consent to a search of the house. When the police got there looking for a gun, they only knew defendant lived there, and they were looking around for a bystander who knew more. Then they found out about her, but they made no effort to determine her status in relation to the house. [Guest status here wouldn't be enough, but the court doesn't have to go that far. However, the constitutional violation was harmless based on all the evidence.] State v. Pike, 2012 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 317 (May 16, 2012).

A judge in one county could not issue a search warrant to be executed in another county under Texas law. Sanchez v. State, 2012 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 693 (May 16, 2012). [Note: This is a state law issue because the Fourth Amendment doesn’t care about county lines.]

The officer’s testimony that the defendant failed to stop for a crosswalk was not unsupported by the record, so the stop of the vehicle was justified. McMahan v. State, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 3912 (Tex. App. – Houston (14th Dist.) May 17, 2012) (on rehearing).

WASHINGTON — More than 2,000 people who were falsely convicted of serious crimes have been exonerated in the United States in the past 23 years, according to a new archive compiled at two universities.

There is no official record-keeping system for exonerations of convicted criminals in the country, so academics ...