Family Relationship to Suspect Insufficient to Support Stop of Sister, Search of Parents' Home

Poolaw v. Mercantel, ___ F.3d ___, 2009 WL 1176466 (10th Cir. 2009)
Fourth Amendment violated when police stopped the car of the sister-in-law and searched the home of the parents-in-law of the primary suspect in a police killing (Astorga case). Familial relationship is not particularized enough suspicion to overcome an individual’s reasonable expectation of privacy. The family relationship, even when combined with “meager” additional facts, did not establish RS in the case of the sister-in-law, nor PC for a search warrant in the case of the parents-in-law. These principles are clearly established, and the cops do not have qualified immunity in Sec. 1983 action. O’Brien dissented.