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CA2: No PC as to a mere bystander to a drug deal

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Officer's knowledge about the others present before a controlled delivery of drugs in a FedEx package did not know that there was probable cause to believe he knew anything about it. His actions afterward fared no better. For all it showed, he was a bystander. United States v. Valentine, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 16488 (2d Cir. August 5, 2008): The officers' interpretation of Valentine's actions seems to have been largely informed by his presence at the surveilled apartment building and his familiarity with other men who knew the intended recipient of the FedEx delivery. "[I]n order to find probable cause based on association with persons engaging in criminal activity, some additional circumstances from which it is reasonable to infer participation in criminal enterprise must be shown...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on August 07, 2008 (boomark / email).