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Vitalizing the exclusionary rule

By Jonathan Byrne

US v. Foster: Foster pled guilty to one count of possession with intent to deliver cocaine after police officers discovered drugs and some paraphernalia during an investigative stop. Foster reserved the right to appeal the denial of a suppression motion in which he argued that the officers lacked a reasonable suspicion to make the stop. In a felicitous turn for Foster, the Fourth Circuit on appeal expresses its dismay at what it characterizes as "Government attempts to spin these largely mundane acts into a web of deception," finding a lack of articulable facts to support the district court's finding of reasonable suspicion sufficient to support the investigative stop, and vacates Foster's conviction. Remarking on the similarity of this case to the factual scenario of US v...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Circuit Blog on March 03, 2011 (boomark / email).