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Brown attenuation fails; no causal break at all

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Reopening the suppression hearing at the government's request would not change the outcome. Applying Brown v. Illinois attenuation analysis, the government still does not win. One officer was still out of breath after the illegal arrest. United States v. Valentine, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 103860 (E.D. N.Y. December 24, 2008): The second and third factors--temporal proximity and intervening circumstances--weigh heavily in defendant's favor. The law enforcement officers arrested defendant on the street outside of his apartment. (H. 196.) When they initiated the arrest, Morales was asleep. She was awakened by a neighbor shouting to her that the police were arresting defendant. (H. 306.) One officer testified that he observed Morales nervously watching the struggle to arrest defendant through a window...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on December 29, 2008 (boomark / email).