VoteKansas.org

Applying the “unique” Pennsylvania independence source rule, and pending two years before it was decided, is Commonwealth v. Henderson, 2010 Pa. LEXIS 3074 (April 25, 2010)*:

In the present circumstances, we are unwilling to enforce a "true independence" rule in the absence of police misconduct and on pain of the Commonwealth being forever barred from obtaining non-evanescent evidence connecting Appellant with his crimes. In answer to the specific question presented, we hold that suppression is not required on account of Detective Evans' status as a member of the same police department as Detective Johnson. Rather, in light of the factual circumstances before the Court in both Melendez and Mason, we deem it appropriate to limit the independent police team requirement to situations in which the rule prevents police from exploiting the fruits of their own willful misconduct. Where such malfeasance is not present, we agree with the Superior Court that the Murray standard strikes the appropriate balance between privacy and law enforcement. See Lloyd, 948 A.2d at 881-82. Ultimately, we believe the "twin aims" of Article I, Section 8 — namely, the safeguarding of privacy and enforcement of the probable-cause requirement — may be vindicated best, and most stably, by taking a more conservative approach to the departure this Court has taken from the established Fourth Amendment jurisprudence.

Watching the Charlotte Bobcats stumble around the court this year may make the casual fan wonder who is running this beleagured organization.

ALMATY, Kazakhstan (AP) -- A Soyuz space capsule carrying two Russians and an American touched down safely Friday on the sweeping steppes of central Kazakhstan, ending the men's 163-day stay on the International Space Station....

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- A judge has refused the prosecution's request and will not issue a gag order on those involved in the George Zimmerman murder trial....

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) -- Three men have been arrested in Copenhagen on suspicion of plotting a terror attack after police found them with automatic weapons and ammunition, Denmark's intelligence service said Friday....

The former musical director of a specialist music school in Manchester has been accused of raping a student.

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) -- The federal judge overseeing the John Edwards criminal case is rejecting what she calls an "extremely broad" effort by his mistress to keep evidence out of the public eye....

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) -- Romania's government fell Friday in a no-confidence vote, as opposition parties seized on widespread public anger over biting austerity measures, cronyism and corruption....

Police have said they are mounting a 24-7 operation in the search for a man wanted in connection with two murders.

The government says there were "serious failings" in the financial management of a trust running academy schools in Lincolnshire.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration wants to trademark the term "GI Bill" in an effort to shield veterans and military families being swindled or misled by schools that target their federal education benefits....

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- President Barack Obama and his party together raised $60 million last month, his campaign reported Thursday....

MADRID (AP) -- Spain's economic woes deepened Friday as the government revealed that unemployment rose to nearly 25 percent, a day after a credit ratings agency downgraded the country's debt and warned it faces an uphill battle to get a grip on its finances at a time of recession....

Defendant denied he had a connection to the house at the time of the search, and that indicated that he had no standing. United States v. Sayles, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 57596 (S.D. Ind. April 25, 2012).*

Police officers sought a search warrant for defendant’s house to attempt to corroborate an allegation of sexual assault there. They were there to photograph the interior. Once inside, they found marijuana and guns in plain view. They got a second search warrant to seize them, and it was valid. United States v. Bogie, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 57831 (D. Vt. April 25, 2012).*

The trial court did not err in crediting defendant’s statement to the officer that he consented and a search warrant was not required. State v. Wright, 2012 Ohio 1809, 2012 Ohio App. LEXIS 1587 (5th Dist. April 23, 2012).*

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani challenges the opposition to unseat him after being found guilty of contempt of court.

BEIJING (AP) -- A Chinese activist who triggered a diplomatic dispute between China and the United States said Monday he is confident that Beijing will hold up its end of a tentative deal to let him study overseas....

Recognizing the right of access to search warrant papers by the target of a search and the press, the state sought impoundment of the records for a brief time until indictment, and this was reasonable under the circumstances. [The case also contains a summary of the law on access to materials.] New England Internet Café v. Clerk of the Superior Court for Criminal Business in Suffolk County, 2012 Mass. LEXIS 343 (April 25, 2012):

In sum, we do not agree with the plaintiffs that the Fourth Amendment requires that the target of government searches be given access to the materials supporting them prior to indictment or that an analysis separate from our recognized "good cause" analysis is required whenever a Fourth Amendment interest is asserted. On the other hand, we do not agree with the Commonwealth that the privacy and property interests protected by the Fourth Amendment's constraint on unreasonable searches are irrelevant to a judge's balancing of the interests of the parties in the circumstances presented here.

With this in mind, we turn to the manner in which the judge balanced the respective interests of the parties before us. After reviewing both the warrant affidavits and the assistant attorney general's affidavit on good cause, the judge concluded that "the contents of the affidavits are unexceptional." As he explained, and we so conclude after our own review of the impounded materials, the affidavits portray a generic gaming experience at a public place of business; they are innocuous and do not expose any secretive investigative techniques or clandestine operations. In light of the judge's findings, and the opportunity he properly extended to the Commonwealth to suggest the redaction of information that it believed was particularly sensitive, the Commonwealth's interest in preserving the secrecy of its ongoing investigation as described in the affidavits, while ordinarily compelling, was considerably diminished. See In re Search Warrants Issued August 29, 1994, 889 F. Supp. 296, 302 (S.D. Ohio 1995) ("redaction of the original affidavit is feasible and would meet the government's concerns regarding any ongoing criminal investigation"). Contrary to the Commonwealth's contention that the judge overlooked critical information pertinent to the good cause analysis, his acknowledgment of potentially sensitive information worthy of redaction reflects an appreciation of the Commonwealth's purported needs, as well as his conclusion that the Commonwealth had failed to demonstrate good cause to shield the documents in their entirety.

On the other side of the scale, the judge properly considered the extent of the materials seized from the plaintiffs, the closure of the plaintiffs' businesses, and the fact that, nearly two and one-half months after the searches had been executed, the plaintiffs had not yet been charged with a crime. There was no abuse of discretion. The judge's order allowing the plaintiffs' emergency motion to modify or terminate the impoundment order is affirmed.

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) -- The daughter of Ukraine's jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said Friday that her mother's condition has deteriorated badly since alleged beatings by prison guards and that she fears her mother will be force-fed to get her to stop a hunger strike. German doctors who have examined Tymoshenko said they don't believe she can get proper treatment at home....

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Osama bin Laden's Yemeni widow has received assurances from Saudi officials that she and her children can remain in the kingdom, a relative said Friday after Pakistan deported more than a dozen members of the late al-Qaida leader's family....

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Officials say a Minneapolis-St. Paul airport terminal has reopened after a suspicious bag prompted an early morning evacuation....