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Ythan
ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ


Registered: 08/08/97
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In Texas, Search Warrants Can Now Be Based on a "Prediction of a Future Crime"
#19291883 - 12/18/13 05:00 AM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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In Texas, Search Warrants Can Now Be Based on a "Prediction of a Future Crime" dallasobserver.com
Police in Parker County had been watching Michael Fred Wehrenberg's home for a month when, late in the summer of 2010, they received a tip from a confidential informant that Wehrenberg and several others were "fixing to" cook meth. Hours later, after midnight, officers walked through the front door, rounded up the people inside, and kept them in handcuffs in the front yard for an hour and a half.
The only potential problem, at least from a constitutional standpoint, was that the cops didn't have a search warrant. They got one later, before they seized the boxes of pseudoephedrine, stripped lithium batteries, and other meth-making materials, while the alleged meth cooks waited around in handcuffs, but by then they'd already waltzed through the home uninvited. They neglected to mention this on their warrant application, identifying a confidential informant as their only source of information.
Wehrenberg's lawyers argued during materials that the seized materials had been taken illegally and shouldn't be allowed as evidence. The motion was denied -- the trial court cited federal "independent source doctrine," which allows illegally seized evidence a third party told them about beforehand -- and Wehrenberg pleaded guilty to one count of possession and one count of intent to manufacture, getting five years in prison.
The Second Court of Appeals in Fort Worth wasn't so eager to overlook what appeared to be a clear case of police misconduct and overturned the lower court's ruling.
But it's the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals that has the final say, and last week they agreed with the trial court. In a majority opinion, Judge Elsa Alcala wrote that, while Texas' "exclusionary rule" bans illegally seized evidence from trial, federal precedent dictates that it can be introduced if it was first confirmed by an independent source.
Grits for Breakfast's Scott Henson, who first reported the case, isn't sure how significant the decision will prove to be on the ground.
"But the actions of police in the case don't pass the smell test," he writes. "If their informant was so credible, why not go to the judge for a search warrant in the 3-4 hours before their illegal entry? The judge was available in the middle of the night, so there's little basis to believe they couldn't have gotten it earlier. And why conceal the fact that they'd already swept the house and detained the suspects in the search warrant application if everything was on the up and up?"
He has a kindred spirit in CCA Judge Lawrence Meyers, who was the only justice to dissent. As Meyers wrote, "it is obvious to me that this search warrant was obtained based upon the officers' unlawful entry into [Wehrenberg]'s residence."
Quote:
There was more than enough time to secure a search warrant before the officers' intrusion into the premises, but they deliberately chose not to attempt to obtain it until after they had conducted the unlawful entry. Further, had the officers entered the home and found the occupants only baking cupcakes, the officers would not have bothered to then obtain the warrant at all. It was only after unlawfully entering and finding suspicious activity that they felt the need to then secure the warrant in order to cover their tracks and collect the evidence without the taint of their entry.
In addition, Meyers argues that the confidential informant's report that Wehrenberg was "fixing to" cook meth wasn't independent evidence but a prediction of a future crime. The majority's decision, he writes, means that "search warrants may now be based on predictions of the commission of future crimes," which is an uncomfortable concept to say the least.
Update on December 19: Lisa McMinn, the attorney who prosecuted the appeals case on behalf of the state, takes issue with Meyers' opinion. Only natural, given that that's her job, but she says Meyers is mistaken on a matter of fact.
The only issue before the Court of Criminal Appeals was the search warrant. The search warrant wasn't based on the "fixing to cook methamphetamine" statement-- only on the chemicals the confidential informant had previously seen at the house.
"The search warrant wasn't based on the "fixing to cook methamphetamine" statement-- only on the chemicals the confidential informant had previously seen at the house," McMinn writes.
She quotes from the search warrant.
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The source further detailed, that within the past 72 hours, the source personally observe the suspected parties in possession of certain chemicals with intent to manufacture a controlled substance....The sourse detailed personally observing the suspected parties involved in the preparatory stages of the illicit manufacturing of the controlled substance methamphetamine.
The source reported seeing meth-making chemicals and "illicit laboratory items" like ammonia, rock salt, lithium batteries, clear tubing, pseudoephedrine, funnels, possible drain cleaner containing sulfuric acid, at Wehrenberg's house.
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Further your Affiant relays that within the past 72 hours, the source personally observed the suspected parties in possession of a useable amount of methamphetamine at the suspected place.
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trampis
mad hatter


Registered: 01/01/06
Posts: 3,545
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Re: In Texas, Search Warrants Can Now Be Based on a "Prediction of a Future Crime" [Re: Ythan]
#19291973 - 12/18/13 06:10 AM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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First rule of cooking meth (or doing anything else illegal) is you don't talk about cooking meth.
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vinsue
Grand Old Fart



Registered: 02/17/04
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Re: In Texas, Search Warrants Can Now Be Based on a "Prediction of a Future Crime" [Re: Ythan]
#19292405 - 12/18/13 08:55 AM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
Judge Lawrence Meyers said:...In addition, Meyers argues that the confidential informant's report that Wehrenberg was "fixing to" cook meth...
They always be "fixing" to do sumpin' down there in Texas...  . . .
--------------------
"All mushrooms are edible; but some only once." Croatian proverb. BTW ... Have You Rated Ythans Mom Yet ?? ... ... HERE'S HOW ... (be nice) . ...
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Synthe
Gatorade me, bitch!


Registered: 11/10/12
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Loc: Three bags of Funyuns
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Re: In Texas, Search Warrants Can Now Be Based on a "Prediction of a Future Crime" [Re: vinsue]
#19293199 - 12/18/13 12:43 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
vinsue said:
Quote:
Judge Lawrence Meyers said:...In addition, Meyers argues that the confidential informant's report that Wehrenberg was "fixing to" cook meth...
They always be "fixing" to do sumpin' down there in Texas...  . . . 
They be fixin to buy sum 10-cent colas and 15 gallin hats when they lynchin tom robinson fo justice
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NotTheDevil
Transhuman


Registered: 01/08/13
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Re: In Texas, Search Warrants Can Now Be Based on a "Prediction of a Future Crime" [Re: Synthe]
#19293845 - 12/18/13 03:37 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Yet another reason I would never want to live in texas.
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Parafaragaramus
Conquistador



Registered: 01/21/13
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Re: In Texas, Search Warrants Can Now Be Based on a "Prediction of a Future Crime" [Re: NotTheDevil]
#19294851 - 12/18/13 07:35 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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"All the Troubles of the World" by Isaac Asimov Great short story by one of my favorite authors. Written in 1958 and I think it goes hand in hand with this story. You might be able to find it online and it doesn't take very long to read. I would definitely recommend it and any of his other short stories/novellas.
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Deemstar
Doctor Deemstar



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Re: In Texas, Search Warrants Can Now Be Based on a "Prediction of a Future Crime" [Re: NotTheDevil]
#19294865 - 12/18/13 07:40 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Lovely now pigs can walk into anyone's home with the help of a "confidential informant."
-------------------- Gnome-miii-odd JAH!!! Pasta-far-eye! R.I.P. Georgie poor G A.K.A. Jorgon Lucy
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Big_Dave


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Posts: 393
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Re: In Texas, Search Warrants Can Now Be Based on a "Prediction of a Future Crime" [Re: Deemstar]
#19294986 - 12/18/13 08:09 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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In texas.... for now.
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niteman

Registered: 06/29/11
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Re: In Texas, Search Warrants Can Now Be Based on a "Prediction of a Future Crime" [Re: Ythan]
#19294991 - 12/18/13 08:10 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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This is screwed up but I'm honestly not surprised when I read my home state is infringing on an individuals rights . It is sad because I love where I live and it is an diverse and immensely beautiful state but it is so backwards in so many ways that sometimes I think it will always be this way. Everyone who reads this should know that most people here are normal individuals who don't have a bigoted bone in their body and they also feel the law enforcement and politicians are seriously overstepping their boudaries. It is hard for someone who doesn't live here to understand the level of corruption and double standards that drive our justice and prison systems.
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Ellis Dee
Archangel


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Re: In Texas, Search Warrants Can Now Be Based on a "Prediction of a Future Crime" [Re: Ythan]
#19297310 - 12/19/13 09:58 AM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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This strikes me as a clear cut case of a warrantless search. A CI's tip is plenty to knock and talk and ask to have a look around, or perhaps even to get a warrant in some jurisdictions. These Texans did neither, they just stormed the place in a warrantless raid and only bothered to pretend to follow the law after the fact. This goes beyond Texas laws and standards because it violates the United States constitution requirement for a warrant. The logical appeal is to a Federal court which should set this man free.
-------------------- "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do."-King Solomon And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
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Enlil
OTD God-King




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Re: In Texas, Search Warrants Can Now Be Based on a "Prediction of a Future Crime" [Re: Ythan]
#19297527 - 12/19/13 10:56 AM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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The title is misleading. This case isn't about a "prediction of future crime." It's not really a significant case at all from a jurisprudence standpoint. The case simply stands for the proposition that the federal "independent source doctrine" applies in Texas. That's about it.
-------------------- Censoring opposing views since 2014. Ask an Attorney Fuck the Amish
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