If the suppression issue is complicated, the court refuses to resolve it, and turns instead straight to the good faith exception. United States v. LaBatte, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 45261 (D. S.D. March 25, 2013):
In light of staleness issues, those pertaining to the reliability of the juvenile informants, certain conclusory allegations, the over-seizure of evidence and the manner in which the supporting application was filled out, ascertaining -- definitively -- whether the search warrant comported with Fourth Amendment strictures is no easy task, given the facts and circumstances present. The Court, however, need not engage in this complicated exercise because there is a simpler and more straight forward way to resolve the overarching constitutional question: The "good-faith" exception to the warrant requirement.
Note: This is not the first time I've seen a court just throw up its hands to a motion to suppress as too complicated to resolve. Instead, the court just turns to the good faith exception and says that the warrant is fine. There is a moral here: Defense counsel should focus the motion to suppress better and even cut out a lot of cases. If you have six issues of why the warrant fails, make it appear obvious and argue that the total failure of the warrant completely undermines the probable cause. Alternatively, pick one or two and go with that. (Take need from Jones v. Barnes, 463 U.S. 745, 751-52 (1983): "Experienced advocates since time beyond memory have emphasized the importance of winnowing out weaker arguments on appeal and focusing on one central issue if possible, or at most on a few key issues.")
I confess that I've read plenty of affidavits where the GFE was looming, and the PC under Gates was close enough that I knew the court was never going to suppress.
Back to blog
↧