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CA3: Protective sweep that was probably illegal was mooted by issuance of SW on independent PC

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Officers made three controlled buys from defendant had a search warrant for his home, but did not execute it because he was not home. A fourth controlled buy was done, and then the officers went back to his apartment to conduct a protective sweep on the authority of a prosecutor because defendant left the lights on[!]. After the sweep, another search warrant was sought which was based on the same information as the first and included the fourth controlled buy. “Finally, because we agree with the District Court that the second search of the apartment was justified by the independent search doctrine, we need not decide whether the warrantless protective sweep of the apartment was unlawful or whether the circumstances underlying the first search warrant were suspect...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on June 09, 2010 (boomark / email).