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Flight was precipitated by unlawful arrest; seizure of abandoned property suppressed

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant's flight from an unreasonable stop led to him abandoning drugs in flight. Here, the flight was not attenuated from the unlawful activity and the motion to suppress is granted. United States v. Harris, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3846 (D. Colo. January 3, 2008): For the same reasons, I decline to adopt the government's argument that Defendant's flight was an intervening event that dissipated the taint of the initial unlawful search and seizure. It may well be that flight or resisting arrest constitutes an intervening cause in other circumstances but not under the facts of this case where there was never a break in the causal chain following the unlawful search and detention. Defendant's failure to report was sufficient reason for a parole search...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on January 21, 2008 (boomark / email).