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D.Ariz.: Police reports were "deceptive and deficient," but the court believes officer without a credibility determination

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Ties go to the runner, or the government. The court finds the officer deceptive and believes him anyway because of a presumption police officers tell the truth [even when their reports are "deceptive and deficient"]. United States v. Jauregui-Barrajas, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19064 (D. Ariz. January 13, 2010)*: The Court has had difficulty in deciding this case for the following reasons: 1) Agent Bahrychuk's deceptive and deficient case report; and 2) A lack of reports from any other agents because “it was a routine knock and talk”, which seems to excuse good law enforcement work. At the heart of the issue is whether to believe Agent Bahrychuk or the Defendant. This time, the Court finds in favor of Agent Bahrychuk because: 1) He could have, and would have, obtained a warrant; and 2) The Court and our legal community have to accept our adversarial system and the honesty of those who have sworn to tell the truth and defend the Constitution...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on March 08, 2010 (boomark / email).