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CA6: Protective sweep requires knowledge, not ignorance

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Government failed to show justification for its protective sweep, and suppression order affirmed. A protective sweep requires knowledge, not ignorance. United States v. Archibald, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 27309, 2009 FED App. 0423P (6th Cir. December 15, 2009): It is well-settled that arrest warrants are not search warrants. Steagald v. United States, 451 U.S. 204, 212-13, 101 S. Ct. 1642, 68 L. Ed. 2d 38 (1981). Thus, the Supreme Court has identified two types of warrantless protective sweeps of a residence that are constitutionally permissible immediately following an arrest. The first type allows officers to "look in closets and other spaces immediately adjoining the place of arrest from which an attack could be immediately launched." Buie, 494 U...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on December 17, 2009 (boomark / email).