Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Search of Defendant's Person Several Miles Away from Her Residence Was Improper

U.S. v. Young, 2008 WL 313436 (2/5/08) (unpub'd) - The 10th reverses a denial of a motion to suppress. The search warrant only authorized the search of the defendant's person in the course of searching her residence. Consequently, the search of the defendant's person several miles away from her residence was beyond the scope of the warrant. In interpreting the warrant, the 10th relied on the command line that ordered a search of the "premises" and the warrant affidavit which described narcotics activity occurring only at the residence. The defendant did not waive her argument in this regard by not specifically mentioning the command line in the lower court. The good faith exception does not apply to an improper execution of a warrant. The 10th refused to remand to the district court to consider arguments the government had not made below.