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Md. high court sets limits on smartphone search warrants
Search warrants of smartphones may not be so broad as to allow detectives to scour them for information beyond that related to the suspected criminal activity, Maryland’s top court ruled.
Federal prosecutors seek rehearing on law firm search ruling
Federal prosecutors are seeking review of an appellate decision that invalidated their method of searching potentially privileged law firm files last year. Prosecutors seized files and emails from Brown, Goldstein & Levy LLP last year as part of an investigation into one of the firm’s attorneys and a past client, Baltimore attorney Ken Ravenell. The 4th U.S. […]
4th Circuit orders magistrate, not feds, to review materials seized from law firm
A federal appeals court ordered the review materials seized from a law firm in June to be reassigned from prosecutors to a magistrate judge Thursday. Attorneys appeared before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday to argue the appropriateness of a “filter team” for the U.S. Attorney’s Office combing through files and emails seized before […]
Md. high court upholds search warrants of cellphones
Maryland’s top court Thursday upheld warrants to search suspected criminals’ cellphones based on the training and experience of police officers who said evidence related to drug and violent activities are often found on the devices. In a pair of 5-2 decisions, the final of its current term, the Court of Appeals equated the contents of […]
4th Circuit: No warrant needed for cellphone-tower records
Police do not need a search warrant to get the cellphone-tower records of suspected criminals in an effort to track down their whereabouts when the crime was committed, a federal appeals court ruled Monday in upholding the convictions of two Baltimore bank robbers.
Federal judge rules U.S. had duty to disclose reason for search warrant
In a judicial opinion published just last week in the 2010 investigation of a then-Northrop Grumman Corp. employee, a federal judge sharply rejected the U.S. government’s claim of national security as the reason for not disclosing to the worker the basis for a search warrant of his North Potomac home.
Supreme Court requires search warrants for blood draws
Police must obtain a search warrant to draw blood to get evidence of drunken driving, the U.S. Supreme Court said today in a divided opinion.
Justice Dept.: Email snooping law no longer makes sense
The Justice Department said Tuesday it supports rewriting 26-year-old legislation that has allowed law enforcement to read a person’s emails without a search warrant so long as the email is older than six months or already opened. The law has long been criticized by privacy advocates as a loophole when it comes to protecting Americans […]
Conviction of Del. pedophile pediatrician upheld
DOVER, Del. — The Delaware Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the conviction of former pediatrician Earl Bradley, who is serving life in prison for sexually abusing scores of patients over more than a decade. In a 22-page ruling, the court said Bradley’s appeal challenging a search warrant that police used to seize homemade videos of […]
Supreme Court: Can police detain without warrant?
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will decide whether police can follow and detain a suspect while they wait for a search warrant, even after the suspect leaves the area that the police want to search. The high court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal from Chunon Bailey, who was sentenced to 30 years in […]
Court of Appeals reinstates $200K award
Maryland’s top court has reinstated a $200,000 damages award to a woman who was roused from her bed and assaulted by Prince George’s County deputy sheriffs executing an arrest warrant. In its 7-0 decision, the Court of Appeals said Kimberly Jones provided sufficient evidence at trial that the state had negligently trained the deputies regarding […]
Supreme Court could revisit ‘sniff’ test
MIAMI — Franky the drug dog’s super-sensitive nose is at the heart of a question being put to the U.S. Supreme Court: Does a police K-9’s sniff outside a house give officers the right to get a search warrant for illegal drugs, or is the sniff itself an unconstitutional search? Florida’s highest state court said […]
