Federal Judiciary

The Case of the Ecstatic Sewage System

By Robert Loblaw

U.S. v. Fiasche, 07-1132 (7^th Cir., March 21, 2008)

You don?t often find jokes in criminal appeals. But leave it to Judge Evans of the Seventh Circuit to find a way to be cute in this decision affirming the district court?s denial of a motion to suppress.

The defendants are drug dealers who were involved in a large-scale conspiracy to sell ecstacy and marijuana that operated out of a house in Chicago. The facts involve a scene that has become familiar in movies and tv: cops raiding a drug den just in time to stop a perp from flushing all the drugs down the toilet. And one of the issues for appeal is whether the sight of a man running around frantically in a towel and the sound of flushing created the sort of exigent circumstances that justify a warrantless search.

The district court concluded that the answer was yes, and the Seventh Circuit affirms. On the issue of exigent circumstances, Judge Evans reason that:

Judge Evans also takes the opportunity to excerpt some of the more “creative” and “colorful” arguments made by defense counsel. Hey pot, meet kettle!

Full post as published by Decision of the Day on March 21, 2008 (boomark / email).