Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Fourth Amendment

Criminal Law

: Fourth Amendment

Breaking through an interior wall was not an unreasonable search under a warrant

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The destruction of an interior wall under a search warrant for drugs in "the entire premises" was not an unreasonable search. United States v. Whisnant, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52590 (E.D. Tenn. January 29, 2008): The scope of a lawful search is defined by the object of the search and the places in which there is probable cause to believe that the item or items in question may be found. United States v. Ross, 456 U.S. 798, 827, 102 S. Ct. 2157, 72 L. Ed. 2d 572 (1982). Accordingly, the determination as to whether a search is constitutionally reasonable depends on all of the circumstances surrounding the search or seizure, as well as the nature of the search or seizure itself. In United States v. Becker, 929 F.2d 442 (9th Cir. 1991), when officers executed a search warrant on a residence and adjacent shop, they noticed what appeared to be a newly-poured concrete pad near the shop...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on July 13, 2008 (boomark / email).