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MA: Of Franks and dogs; false positives must be disclosed to the issuing judge

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Massachusetts explains the relationship between the Franks doctrine and dog reliability. Here, the dog's false positives in the past militated against probable cause. "Nonetheless, the cumulative subtractions from the trustworthiness of the alert brought the corrected affidavit information below the level of probable cause." French v. Hines, 2008 Md. App. LEXIS 124 (October 3, 2008): Another corollary of the Franks doctrine is that the motion and hearing judges will inspect an affidavit not only for positive misstatements but also for material omissions of fact. See United States v. Hall, 113 F.3d 157, 158-159 (9th Cir. 1997) (at warrant hearing a police officer withheld important knowledge of a sole informant's tainted credibility; probable cause lacking, warrant invalidated)...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on October 08, 2008 (boomark / email).