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CA11: Half-hearted standing argument was an abandonment of it

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant’s less than half-hearted argument that he had standing in a borrowed van was tantamount to an abandonment of the argument on appeal. United States v. Crisp, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 26708 (11th Cir. December 8, 2009) (unpublished).* In his brief, Crisp refers only three times, in passing, to the reasonableness of his privacy expectation. He alludes in one sentence to his pretrial suppression argument; he devotes two sentences to the proposition that his "custody and control over the van" gave him "a reasonable expectation of privacy"; and he asserts in his conclusion, without support, that he "had an expectation of privacy in the borrowed vehicle." Such cursory treatment of the issue that was dispositive in the district court--and thoroughly discussed in its order--works an abandonment of the issue on appeal...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on December 13, 2009 (boomark / email).