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Search warrant after invalid subpoena for BAC results was valid and independent source

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Search warrant after an invalid subpoena for BAC results was was an independent source. Commonwealth v. Lloyd, 2008 PA Super 101, 2008 Pa. Super. LEXIS 998 (May 14, 2008): [*P18] Therefore, based upon our review of the record, we conclude that Sergeant Adams' decision to seek a search warrant was premised only upon information that had been observed legally by his colleagues on the night of the arrest and recorded in their reports and not based upon illegally-obtained information. Murray, 487 U.S. at 542 (reviewing court must consider whether subsequent police decision to obtain warrant was based on information observed by police misconduct). It is true that Sergeant Adams' investigation retraced the steps of the previous investigation, but we decline the invitation to penalize Sergeant Adams for the comprehensiveness of the previous investigation, especially here, where there was nothing of substance added to his investigation or the search warrant application by virtue of the illegally-obtained BAC results...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on May 18, 2008 (boomark / email).