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NM: Probation officers' presence was pretext for criminal search

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The probationer officer’s presence at the police search was subordinate to a police search and made it unreasonable. State v. Bolin, 2010 NMCA 66, 2010 N.M. App. LEXIS 98, April 22, 2010, Filed, Certiorari Denied, No. June 21, 2010, No. 32,416: [*18] But for the police seeking Valdez on the outstanding warrant and their investigation, probation officers Guy and Carter never would have appeared at Defendant's doorstep. No home visit had been scheduled for that day and, once at Defendant's home, police actively participated in questioning Defendant, not only about Valdez's whereabouts, but about whether Defendant had herself been dealing drugs. Indeed, as Defendant's arrest warrant makes clear, police had Defendant in custody and were interrogating her while probation officers conducted the first search...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on August 20, 2010 (boomark / email).