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Articles by Anthony Accurso

Office of Homeland Security Circumventing Warrant Requirement by Buying Cellphone Location Data from Marketing Firm

The Office of Homeland Security (“OHS”) has been purchasing “anonymized” cellphone location data for use in Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) investigations, according to information obtained by the Wall Street Journal.

Under Carpenter v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 2206 (2018), law …

Indiana Supreme Court: Removal of Police’s GPS Tracker on Suspect’s Vehicle Not Probable Cause of Theft, Suppression of Evidence

The Supreme Court of Indiana suppressed all evidence resulting from search warrants obtained on the basis that the sheriff’s department concluded a suspect “stole” the GPS device being used to track him when it failed to transmit its location for 10 days.

Derek Heuring …

Declassified Court Ruling Details FBI Abuses of Mass Surveillance Data

The government declassified a court order from October 2018 that details the FBI’s misuse of its access to mass surveillance data collected in partnership with large tech and communications companies.

The order detailed what many Americans suspect: Federal agencies misuse mass surveillance in contravention …

Justice Office Awards $145 Million in Forensic Science Grants

The Office of Justice Programs at the Department of Justice recently announced grants of more than $145 million being awarded through various programs it helps to fund. These grants will cover initiatives centered on forensic science.

Notable inclusions from this total are:

• …

Carpenter Slowly Remaking Fourth Amendment Case Law

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in 2018, which has been slowly changing the way courts interpret the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution in our era of mobile technology — and impacting the day-to-day investigative efforts of police.

In Carpenter v. …

California Supreme Court Announces Sentencing Law Changes Apply Until Revocation Sentence Becomes Final

The Supreme Court of California announced an extension of its prior rule of when to allow application of an amended sentencing statute, such that it may be applied to a defendant’s sentence still under appeal even though that sentence resulted when his probation was revoked.

Fifth Circuit: Defendant Lacked Culpability in Attempting to Export Ammunition by Merely Purchasing It

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that a district court clearly erred in assigning a defendant a three-level enhancement for attempting to export ammunition when he had purchased the ammunition but was yet to take further steps toward its export.

Illinois Supreme Court: Failing to Stipulate Felon Status Allowing Jury to Hear About Murder Conviction Constitutes IAC

The Supreme Court of the State of Illinois reversed a defendant’s conviction because his attorney failed to stipulate his felon status at trial, and the jury was likely prejudiced by knowing his previous conviction was for murder.

Leslie Moore was pulled over in Joliet, …

Interpreting Emojis as Court Evidence

Emojis on cellphones and other digital devices have advanced their popularity as a way to express emotion. It should be no surprise then that their ubiquity has brought them into court cases. However, the accepted meanings of the emojis has not caught up to their …

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Clarifies Standards for Exit Order and Patfrisk

The Supreme Judicial Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts affirmed the suppression of evidence resulting from a patfrisk that was conducted after the defendant had exited his vehicle unprompted by police, and twice looked back into it during his encounter with officers.

Manuel Torres-Pagan …

 

 

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