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E.D.Ky.: "Franks hearings are not like lollipops at the bank?you do not get one just because you ask."

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant does not get a Franks hearing on omitted information because every affidavit omits something. More is required in the preliminary showing that just something was omitted. United States v. Polly, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108661 (E.D. Ky. October 8, 2010)*: Franks hearings are not like lollipops at the bank—you do not get one just because you ask. Search warrant affidavits are presumptively valid. Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154, 172 (1978). Nevertheless, police officers may not intentionally or recklessly lie in their affidavits or omit material information in order to gin-up probable cause where it might not otherwise exist. Criminal defendants may challenge search warrant affidavits on these grounds, but the right to mount such a challenge is not automatic...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on October 14, 2010 (boomark / email).