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

Criminal Law

: Fourth Amendment

W.D.Va.: Defendant who has pled guilty and awaiting sentencing may have a warrantless search condition imposed for release

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Warrantless search condition imposed on defendant after guilty plea pending sentencing was valid. United States v. Thompson, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 93432 (W.D. Va. October 2, 2008): The defendant has failed to meet her burden of proving that the warrantless search condition is not needed to assure the safety of the community. The defendant points to United States v. Scott, 450 F.3d 863 (9th Cir. 2006), in which the Ninth Circuit invalidated a search of a pretrial defendant's residence where the search was based on conditions of bond that subjected him to a drug screen and a warrantless search. But the Ninth Circuit did not hold that pretrial release subject to a condition permitting warrantless searches was per se unreasonable. Instead, the court concluded that the pretrial defendant's consent to search would be valid only if the search was reasonable, id...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on November 22, 2008 (boomark / email).