Updates to Bell's Compendium on Searches & Seizures
Page numbers in parentheses refer to where the boldface topic is found in the printed volume of Bell’s.
NOTE: *Tacardon on pg. 77 was decided by Cal. Sup. Ct. New citation:
Tacardon, 14 C5 235, 302 CR3 374, 521 P3 533 (22) #S264219: Deputy saw legally parked BMW with smoke coming out window. Pulled 20 feet behind and used spotlight, not emergency lights. Approached. MJ smell. Using flashlight, Deputy saw bags of MJ in car. Def. on probation. Probation search found MJ and pills. Held, spotlight, without more, is not a detention. Totality of circumstances test.
Temporary Detention (pg. 61)
IN RE L.G., 108 CA5 818, 329 CR3 595 (25) #B331298: Offs. patrolling Harbor Crips Gang territory after dark. In cruiser they encountered 3 young men on sidewalk, engaged in conversation. Def., a minor, said nothing. Suspecting drugs or weapons, Offs got out, ordering “Hands up!” Def. ran. Caught. Gun. Supp. Den. Rev. Illegal detention.
Privacy (pg. 22)
Anderson, ___ CA5 ___, ___ CR3 ___ (26) #H051905: Cell phone found on body of dead robber. Mother gave consent to search phone. Evidence found implicating the two defendants. Good faith exception applies to searches under CalECPA. Offs reasonably believed mother could give consent.
Probable Cause (pg. 98)
PEREZ, ___ CA5 ___, ___ CR3 ___ (26) #G064219: Gang area. Offs saw Def. put gun in car, enter Apt. Door open, Off. shined flashlight, drew gun, ordered Def. out, he complied, was cuffed. Search of Apt. illegal. Def. was arrested, not detained. Home search requires P-C and warrant or exigent circumstances.
Exigency (pg. 124)
Case, 607 US ___, ___ SC ___, ___ LE2 ___ (26) #24-624: Montana 911 call that Case was threatening suicide and may have shot himself. Offs knocked, yelled, got no response. Saw empty handgun holster and note inside. Entered. Case was in closet holding a gun, was shot but survived. Charged with assault on Offs. Suppression Denial upheld. Objectively reasonable basis for believing” entry was needed to save Case’s life, applying Stuart, 547 U. S. 398 (06). 9-0 decision.
Valencia, ___ CA5 ___, ___ CR3 ___ (26) #B338672: Def. driving Chevy Silverado pickup UI. Police chased, Def. crashed, ran into Apt. Police ran in, Def. barricaded in bedroom. Standoff. Def. shot and killed an Off. SWAT came. After 15 hours and use of explosives, gas, and dog, Def. captured. Warrantless entry valid under exigent circumstances: dissipation of UI evidence, and posing “a flagrant risk to others, to
himself, and to the property of others.”
Search Warrants (pg. 164)
MEINER, ___ CA5 ___, ___ CR3 ___ (26) #G065769: Def. arrested, on probation with search condition, including phone but not for “financial accounts.” S-W. Police examined Def’s Apple Pay account. Motion to Traverse upheld. Omitting the exception from S-W application was “material” omission.
General Rules (pg. 184)
DMV Administrative Hearing
Kazelka, 109 CA5 1239, 331 CR3 251 (25) #A163664: Offs stopped Def. for DUI. Gave PAS test without giving statutory admonition. DMV hearing, suspension. Def. filed for writ of mandate. Granted, holding that failed admonition required suppression. Reversed. Off. conduct did not “rise to level” requiring exclusion in administrative hearing context.