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

Criminal Law

: Fourth Amendment

Ordinary things are burglar tools in the hands of a burglar

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Common sense dictates that ordinary objects, innocent in themselves, are tools of burglars. Direct proof of crime not needed, and probable cause can be inferred. United States v. Brooks, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82067 (E.D. Pa. October 15, 2008): Defense counsel emphasizes that the items taken or seen during the arrest that did not actually represent unambiguously illegal conduct (even if Mr. Brooks's driving was illegal.) However, it was not necessary that all the facts recounted in the probable cause affidavit constitute direct proof of a crime; it can be sufficient for purposes of finding probable cause to infer probable cause by "considering the type of crime, the nature of the items sought, the suspect's opportunity for concealment and normal inferences about where a criminal might hide [evidence]...continue to full post

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