BLOG BULLETS:   Does and/or should a search warrant for premises based on probable cause to think one occupant or resident is involved in criminal activity allow the search of an uninvolved occupant’s or resident’s computer? More generally, think about how ordinary search principles extend to computer searches, and use them if they suggest limits […]

BLOG BULLETS: A recent case illustrates the potential for challenging computer searches not just through facial challenges to the warrant but in the way the search was conducted. Agents conducting a computer search can’t use search techniques that are aimed at items that aren’t in the categories the search warrant is for. Find out about […]

BLOG BULLETS: Legal arguments such as the proper interpretation of a criminal statute which also depend on the evidence don’t have to be raised pretrial, even if the evidence the argument is based on is uncontested. Raising these arguments during trial in the form of a Rule 29 motion for judgment of acquittal can create […]

BLOG BULLETS: The remedy for a coerced confession isn’t just suppression of the fruit of the poisonous tree but a full “Kastigarhearing.” That puts the full burden on the government and precludes application of the “independent source,” “inevitable discovery,” and “attenuated basis” exceptions to the fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine. It also requires not […]

I’m in the midst of Ninth Circuit oral arguments this week, so my next more substantive post will come next week, but I thought I’d share the attached briefs I got in response to my last post from DFPD Alex Yates, one of the young (by my standards, anyway) stars in our FPD appellate unit […]

BLOG BULLETS: McNabb–Mallory doesn’t apply to time in state custody before being passed on to the fed’s. But there’s an exception if the state custody is part of a “working arrangement” between the state cops and the federal agents. Justice Stevens suggested such working arrangements wouldn’t be that uncommon, so push the envelope on this […]

BLOG BULLETS: Think about the McNabb–Mallory rule in addition to Mirandaand voluntariness. The McNabb–Mallory rule requires suppression of statements obtained after any delay of more than six hours in bringing the defendant to court after arrest, unless the government shows the delay is reasonable. Prior Ninth Circuit law suggesting suppression for violation of the rule […]

Today, we have what’s really Part 2 of Dan Broderick’s blog last week on materiality and bank fraud related prosecutions. This post is on the related offense of false statement in a loan application in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1014. BLOG BULLETS: Materiality isn’t an element of the 18 U.S.C. § 1014 offense of […]

Today, we have another post from Dan Broderick, who did a guest post four weeks ago (see “Intent to Defraud Is Misdefined in the Ninth Circuit Model Instructions,” linked at the right). Dan’s post this week is on another element of the fraud instructions – the element of materiality. BLOG BULLETS: False statements qualify as […]

BLOG BULLETS: A recent Ninth Circuit opinion narrowly reads Aguila-Montes de Oca Only facts necessary to the factual basis for the plea on which a prior conviction is based can be considered under the modified categorical approach It’s not what the defendant did but what he was convicted of that matters. NOW THE BLOG: Before […]