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Ninth Circuit Announces Police Inserting Key in Car Door to Determine Vehicle Ownership Constitutes Search Overruling Circuit Precedent
by Anthony Accurso
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the insertion of a car key into a lock of a vehicle’s door by police solely for the purpose of determining its ownership constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment.
In January 2018, …
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More from this issue:
- No-Knock Warrants Leave Trail of Terror, Property Damage, and Deaths, by David Reutter
- A Primer on Overcriminalization, by David Reutter
- Eighth Circuit Vacates Habeas Denial, Remands to Determine Whether ‘Martinez Exception’ Excused Procedural Default by State Prisoner, by Dale Chappell
- Seventh Circuit: Federal Habeas Relief for State Prisoner Due to Counsel’s Failure to Raise No-Causation Defense, by Dale Chappell
- Federal Habeas Corpus: Filing Procedures, by Dale Chappell
- The Parole App Trap, by Jayson Hawkins
- Seventh Circuit Vacates Sentence Where District Court Improperly Imposed Leadership Enhancement, by Douglas Ankney
- Fourth Circuit: Police Request for ID Outside Valid Terry Stop Unconstitutional, by Anthony Accurso
- New Jersey Police Union Contracts Laden With Financial Largesse, by Casey Bastian
- D.C. Circuit Highlights Racial Disparity Concerns With First Step Act After District Court Erroneously Denies Relief, by Dale Chappell
- D.C. Department of Forensic Sciences Firearms Examination Unit Under Fire, by Derek Gilna
- Seventh Circuit Exercises Supervisory Powers in Reversing District Court’s Judgment Revoking Supervised Release, by Douglas Ankney
- Seventh Circuit: District Court Retains Jurisdiction When Habeas Petitioner Moves to Prison Outside of District, by Dale Chappell
- Iowa Supreme Court Announces Brady Standard Applies to Motion for New Trial Based on Withheld Exculpatory Medical Records, by Douglas Ankney
- Abuse of Civil Asset Forfeiture Laws Prompts Class Action Lawsuit, by Casey Bastian
- Tech Company Enables Surveillance, by Jayson Hawkins
- Michigan State Police Reverse on Use of Messaging App That Can Evade FOIA Requests, by Douglas Ankney
- Wyoming Supreme Court: District Court Abused Discretion by Granting State’s Dismissal of Charges Without Prejudice and Refiling to Gain Tactical Advantage, Remands for Dismissal With Prejudice, by Douglas Ankney
- Fourth Circuit: Employment Restriction for Supervised Release Overbroad and Impermissible Delegation of Power to Probation, by Dale Chappell
- Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Good Faith Exception Inapplicable to Unsworn Search Warrant, by Anthony Accurso
- Arkansas Supreme Court: Unborn Child Not a ‘Person’ Under Sentencing Enhancement Scheme, by Anthony Accurso
- New Jersey Appellate Court Holds Defendant Entitled to Source Code of Novel Probabilistic Genotyping Software Upon Showing of Particularized Need, by Douglas Ankney
- Orwellian Fusion Centers Are Watching You, by Casey Bastian
- Utah Supreme Court: Appeal of Plea in Justice Court Doesn’t Vacate Judgment, by David Reutter
- California Court of Appeal: Prisoners Are Not Required to Serve ‘Thompson Terms’ After Grant of Parole Under Elderly Parole Program, by Douglas Ankney
- North Carolina Supreme Court Reverses Embezzlement Convictions for Failure to Hold Competency Hearing After Mid-Trial Suicide Attempt, Involuntary Commitment, by Matthew Clarke
- Surveillance and the City, by Jayson Hawkins
- New York Court of Appeals Rejects Federal Jurisprudence Allowing Searches of Vehicles Based on Warrants Authorizing Searches of ‘Premises’, by Douglas Ankney
- Fifth Circuit: Anonymous Tip Didn’t Provide Reasonable Suspicion to Conduct Investigatory Stop, by Douglas Ankney
- Ohio Supreme Court: Imposing Two Punishments for One Quantity of Mixture of Heroin and Fentanyl Violates Double Jeopardy, by Douglas Ankney
- Illinois Study: Crime Rate not Tied to Prison Population Levels, by Kevin Bliss
- Ninth Circuit: State’s Forced Medication Order Was Properly Challenged Under Federal Habeas Corpus, by Dale Chappell
- Ninth Circuit Announces Police Inserting Key in Car Door to Determine Vehicle Ownership Constitutes Search Overruling Circuit Precedent, by Anthony Accurso
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More from Anthony Accurso:
- The Systematic Terror of Rankin County’s “Goon Squad”, May 1, 2026
- Virginia Prisoners Stuck Waiting for Education Programs, Feb. 1, 2026
- $939,000 for Nevada Prisoner Left in Wheelchair by Delayed Back Pain Treatment, Jan. 1, 2026
- Ninth Circuit Affirms Exclusion of Plea Agreement’s Factual Basis, Holding Unaccepted “Type A” Plea Agreement Unenforceable to Trigger Waiver of Rule 410 Protections, Dec. 15, 2025
- America’s Deadliest Jails: Tarrant County Edition, Nov. 1, 2025
- Seventh Circuit Dismisses Jail Detainee Suicide Case for Lack of Showing Deliberate Indifference, Nov. 1, 2025
- Protecting Your Digital Privacy, Oct. 15, 2025
- Idaho Supreme Court Announces Warrantless Search of Civilly Committed Individual Violates Fourth Amendment, Oct. 15, 2025
- Michigan Supreme Court Announces Guidance on Standards for Search Warrants of Cellphones to Satisfy Particularity Requirement of Fourth Amendment That “Reasonably Direct” Search to Uncovering Evidence of Criminal Activity Identified in Warrant, Oct. 15, 2025
- Sixth Circuit: Erlinger Error Requires Resentencing Where Government Cannot Prove Beyond Reasonable Doubt That Jury Would Find Prior Offenses Committed on Different “Occasions”, Oct. 15, 2025
More from these topics:
- Seventh Circuit Announces Courts May Examine Individual Officer’s Subjective Purpose When Assessing Whether Warrantless Administrative Inspection Was Pretextual, Holding Suppression Required Where Trooper’s Sole Motive for Stop Was Criminal Investigati, Aug. 1, 2026. Warrantless Searches, Exception to Warrant Requirement, Pretextual Stops, Searches - Administrative, Suppression.
- New Mexico Supreme Court Announces Article II, Section 10 Exclusionary Rule Governs Admissibility of Evidence Seized Outside State by Non-New Mexico Officers, Aug. 1, 2026. Warrantless Searches, Conflict of Laws/Decisions, State Constitutional Claims, Suppression, Exclusionary Rule.
- California Court of Appeal: Vehicle Impoundment Solely to Prevent Further Unlicensed Driving Does Not Satisfy Fourth Amendment’s Community Caretaking Exception; Statutory Authorization Alone Insufficient to Establish Constitutional Reasonableness, June 1, 2026. Warrantless Searches, Motions To Suppress, Searches - Inventory, Community Caretaking Exception/Doctrine, Seizure.
- The Constitution for Sale: FBI Confirms Resumption of Data Broker Dragnets, June 1, 2026. Fourth Amendment, rights, Warrantless Searches, Cell-Phone Location/Tracking Data, Electronic Surveillance, Privacy Act/Rights.
- Fourth Circuit Announces Defendant Has Standing to Appeal Based Solely on Rogers–Singletary Claim of a “Material Discrepancy Between” Written and Orally Articulated Judgment at Sentencing, May 1, 2026. Failure to Object, Appealable Issues/Orders, Warrantless Searches, Reasonable Suspicion, Special Conditions.
- Oregon Supreme Court Announces Article I, Section 9, of State Constitution Protects Privacy in Internet Browsing Conducted Over Public Wi-Fi Networks, April 1, 2026. Searches - Cellphones/Computers/Internet, Warrantless Searches, Electronic Surveillance, State Constitutional Claims, Suppression.
- Fifth Circuit Announces Long Vehicle Protective-Search Exception Requires Contemporaneous Facts Demonstrating Third Party’s Potential Dangerousness Before Warrantless Vehicle Search Is Permissible, March 1, 2026. Warrantless Searches, Exception to Warrant Requirement, Motions To Suppress, Searches - Automobile, Reasonable Suspicion.
- New York Court of Appeals Announces Coercive Police Tactics Compelling Suspect to Exit Home Constitute “Constructive Entry” Violating Payton, Holds Attenuation Analysis Applies to Third-Party Consent, March 1, 2026. Warrantless Searches, Consent Searches, State Constitutional Claims, Fruit of the Poisonous Tree, Unlawful Entry/Conduct.
- Most U.S. Prisoners Now Barred from Directly Receiving Physical Mail, Feb. 1, 2026. Mail Regulations, Due Process, Legal Mail, Censorship, Warrantless Searches, Electronic Surveillance.
- SCOTUS Clarifies Emergency-Aid Home Entries Require Only an “Objectively Reasonable Basis for Believing” an Occupant Faces Serious Danger, Rejecting a Probable-Cause Standard and Montana’s Terry-Like Caretaker Test, Feb. 1, 2026. Fourth Amendment, rights, Probable Cause, Exigent Circumstances, Warrantless Searches, Motions To Suppress.





