Charles Brian O'Neill v. United States
FourthAmendment FirstAmendment Takings CriminalProcedure Privacy JusticiabilityDoctri
Do the deficiencies in the search warrants and their supporting affidavits merit good faith protection from the exclusionary rule?
Question Presented Do the deficiencies in the search warrants and their supporting affidavits merit good faith protection from the exclusionary rule? ii Introduction to the Case The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decided an important question of Federal Law in a way that conflicts with relevant decisions of this Court when it affirmed the Trial Court denials of Mr. O’Neill’s motions to suppress the searches of his home and abarn. The affidavits offered in support of the search warrants did not demonstrate probable cause to search for evidence of child pornography. A reasonably well trained law enforcement officer knows nudity alone does not provide probable cause to search for child pornography. The obvious lack of probable cause, reckless material misrepresentation regarding child pornography exchanged on a peer to peer network, and the systemic disregard of material accuracy in the probable cause affidavits make the warrants here undeserving of the protections afforded by the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule articulated in U.S. v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897, 104 S.Ct. 3405, 82 L.Ed.2d 677 (1984). iti