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GREENSBORO, N.C. — The wife of an ex-aide to John Edwards broke down on the witness stand Monday as she recounted how the candidate asked the couple to hide an affair he was having and justified using wealthy donors' money to do it.

Testifying at Edwards' campaign corruption trial, Cheri ...

REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio (AP) — Ohio officials are clearing the way for the return of five surviving exotic animals to a woman whose husband released dozens of wild creatures last fall and then committed suicide.

The Ohio Department of Agriculture announced the decision Monday at an agency hearing in which the state ...

DENVER (AP) — Three Florida siblings accused of shooting at a police officer and staging a daring bank robbery in a multistate crime spree are facing sentencing on charges stemming from their shootout and capture in Colorado — effectively ending their stay here as Georgia authorities await their extradition.

Lee ...

Requesting identification of everybody in a parked car was not an investigative detention under Hiibel. Commonwealth v. Au, 2012 Pa. LEXIS 982 (April 26, 2012) (dissent).

Error in the body of the affidavit that included another person [apparently from the computer cut and paste] was a mere “scrivener’s error.” One could tell who was the target of the search from the totality of the affidavit. United States v. De La Torre, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 58884 (E.D. Okla. February 16, 2012).

There was a swearing match as to whether a particular controlled buy occurred before a search warrant was issued, and the district court found that it did. That was enough for a search warrant to issue, and the district court’s determination was binding. The officer omitted some information from the affidavit about the CI’s credibility, but, if it was included, the warrant would have issued anyway. Finally, there was probable cause and the good faith exception applied. United States v. Richardson, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 8629 (5th Cir. April 27, 2012).*

Anticipatory search warrant failed here because there was no probability that the drugs would be found in a particular place. Commonwealth v. Wallace, 2012 Pa. LEXIS 981 (April 26, 2012):

As the parties recognize, the United States Supreme Court, in Grubbs, established two requirements which an affidavit of probable cause in support of an anticipatory search warrant must meet under the Fourth Amendment: (1) "there is probable cause to believe the triggering condition will occur;" and (2) "if the triggering condition occurs 'there is a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in a particular place.'" Grubbs, 547 U.S. at 96-97 (emphasis omitted). The high Court also held that "[t]he supporting affidavit must provide the magistrate with sufficient information to evaluate both aspects of the probable-cause determination." Id. at 97.

The high Court has made abundantly plain that the triggering event itself must be probable, and thus that an anticipatory search warrant for a search of a person's home may not be issued solely upon a claim that fruits of a crime will be found inside if a triggering event, such as delivery of contraband to the home, takes place and the warrant is executed. Justice Scalia, writing for the majority in Grubbs, explicitly and aptly cautioned in this regard: "If that were the extent of the probability determination, an anticipatory warrant could be issued for every house in the country, authorizing search and seizure if contraband should be delivered — though for any single location there is no likelihood that contraband will be delivered." Id. at 96 (parentheses and emphasis omitted).

. . .

Likewise, this affidavit of probable cause contained a paucity of information concerning the basis of knowledge for the informant's assertion that he could purchase drugs at Appellant's home at the time and date specified in the affidavit. The means by which the confidential informant learned of "Greg's" cocaine sales and the use of his car to deliver narcotics was not set forth in the affidavit, and there was no other evidence provided in the affidavit which would tend to corroborate the truth of these allegations. There was no factual basis in the affidavit which established that the confidential informant had any past relationship with "Greg," ever witnessed "Greg" in possession of drugs, or, critically, had been inside of Appellant's home recently and observed drugs stored there. Furthermore, there were no facts in the affidavit which suggested that the confidential informant had, at any time, personally purchased drugs from "Greg," or witnessed "Greg" selling drugs at any location, let alone at Appellant's home. In short, the affidavit contained only the informant's bare assertion that he could effectuate a controlled purchase at Appellant's home at a particular time.

The CI contacted the police within the previous 48 hours to say that he saw that the defendant had a marijuana grow operation, but didn’t specify when it was that he saw it. This was stale under the state constitution, and the court refuses to apply the totality of circumstances test to this situation. State v. Lyons, 2012 Wash. LEXIS 328 (April 26, 2012), revg State v. Lyons, 160 Wn. App. 100, 247 P.3d 797 (2011).

Defendant was stopped for a traffic violation, and the smell of marijuana came from the car when the window was opened. A drug dog went into the car and alerted on the console, producing roach. The smell of marijuana was reasonable suspicion; the dog alert was probable cause. State v. Chinn, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 552 (La. App. 5th Cir. April 24, 2012).*

A child sex abuse victim’s story that defendant supplied him with alcohol and had a camera out was sufficient to show probable cause to search for the camera to see if there were pictures on it. The police also had an allegation from 2002 of defendant in possession of naked children in pictures. United States v. Westerlund, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 8392, 2012 FED App. 0440N (6th Cir. April 25, 2012).*

NEW YORK — An out-of-control SUV barreled across several lanes of traffic on a highway overpass Sunday, then plunged more than 50 feet off the side of the road and landed in a ravine on the grounds of the Bronx Zoo, killing all seven people aboard, including three children, authorities ...