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CA5: Tip which specified no criminality was insufficient

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Tip received by the officer did not specify any criminality, and only innocent details were corroborated. Defendant's later consent did not purge the taint. United States v. Benavides, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 18640 (5th Cir. August 27, 2008) (unpublished): The anonymous tip that Joe Benavides received alleged no criminal activity. It merely described the truck, the truck's location, and the fact that the truck was being loaded with unknown cargo. Although the government relies heavily on the specificity and accuracy of the tip, it can point to no specific assertion of illegality, much less a verifiable assertion of illegality. The only further articulation of reasonable suspicion made by Benavides was that the area in which the truck was loaded was not a warehouse district...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on September 01, 2008 (boomark / email).