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MD: No REP in jail non-privileged mail

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Officer observed defendant on a store parking lot, probably engaging in drug transactions, and followed him as he left, speeding. He pulled the defendant over, and defendant got out of the car and obviously had something in his mouth. That, too, was reasonable suspicion. State v. Schnyder, 2009 La. App. LEXIS 423 (5th Cir. March 24, 2009).* Defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in his mail as a pretrial detainee (surveying dozens of cases). He mailed a letter which came back with insufficient address. The letter had a copy of an autopsy photograph referring to "my victim" which was admitted into evidence. Sparkman v. State, 2009 Md. App. LEXIS 31 (March 26, 2009). Three defendants being drunk in a garage was not an exigent circumstance that they could not be left alone, comparing it to the level of intrusion on their person by entering the garage and then searching them...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on April 01, 2009 (boomark / email).