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SIGNIFICANT FOURTH AMENDMENT CASES BEFORE U.S. SUPREME COURT

Oct 04 2012
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Court Hears Significant Cases Regarding Police Searches of Home and Body
By: Houston Criminal Lawyer John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases—one from Missouri, the other from Florida—that will have a significant impact on nation’s criminal justice system, regardless of how the court ultimately decides the cases. The High Court in Missouri v. McNeely will decide whether evidence obtained by a nonconsensual and warrantless blood sample from a suspected drunk driver is admissible under the exigent circumstances exception to the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement based solely upon the natural dissipation of alcohol in the bloodstream; and in Jardines v. Florida will decide whether a “dog sniff” by a police canine at a private residence is a search itself requiring a warrant supported by probable cause. Both of these state’s supreme courts answered these questions in the affirmative.

THE McNEELY CASE

In 1966 the U.S. Supreme Court in Schmerber v. California issued a landmark ruling that offered a limited exception to the “warrant requirement” in certain alcohol-related arrests; namely, if certain “special facts” created a reasonable belief by the arresting officer that he faced an “emergency situation” which, if delayed, could result in to the destruction of evidence, he did not have to obtain a warrant before taking a blood sample. The argument was that this kind of emergency situation exists in some DWI cases because the percentage of alcohol in the blood stream quickly diminishes once the consumption of alcohol ceases; thus, an arresting officer does not always have time to find a judge or magistrate to issue a warrant because of exigent circumstances.

Tyler McNeely’s truck was stopped shortly after 2:00 a.m. by a Missouri state highway patrolman in a routine traffic stop. McNeely exhibited signs of intoxication—bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and the smell of alcohol on his breath. The routine traffic stop shifted to a DWI investigation with the officer asking McNeely to exit the truck in order to perform a “standard field-sobriety test.” McNeely failed this preliminary alcohol detection test resulting in the officer placing him under arrest for “driving while intoxicated.” Once he had placed McNeely in the patrol vehicle, the officer asked him if he would consent to a breath test. McNeely refused. The suspect was then driven to a local hospital by the arresting officer where he was asked to consent to a “blood draw.” Again, McNeely refused. The officer instructed a phlebotomist to draw a sample of McNeely’s blood for alcohol testing without first obtaining a search warrant. This was done at 2:33 a.m. The test results indicated a level of alcohol exceeding the legal limit.

McNeely’s attorney filed a motion to suppress the results of the blood test contending the nonconsensual and warrantless blood draw violated his client’s Fourth Amendment rights. The trial court agreed, suppressing the forced blood draw evidence. In deciding the motion, the trial court heard testimony from the arresting officer that he had 17 years of experience and had previously obtained warrants when he needed a blood draw. However, he testified that in McNeely’s case he did not seek a warrant because he had just read an article inTraffic Safety Newsby a “traffic resource prosecutor” who said officers no longer need a warrant before securing a nonconsensual blood draw under Missouri’s “implied consent law.”

The issue squarely before the Missouri Supreme Court was “whether the natural dissipation of blood-alcohol evidence is alone a sufficient exigency to dispense with the warrant requirement under the Fourth Amendment.”

Exigent circumstances exist under the three primary conditions: endangerment to life, opportunity for suspect to escape, or the risk of the destruction of evidence. TheSchmerbercourt said such circumstances trigger two competing interests: the Fourth Amendment right of an individual to be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures on his person, house, papers, and effects versus society’s interest in discovering and eliminating criminal conduct.

The Missouri Supreme Court noted that the officer in theSchmerbercase faced entirely different circumstances than those faced by the officer in McNeely’s case. The defendant in theSchmerbercase was driving a vehicle that skidded off the road, injuring him and a passenger, both of whom were transported to a local hospital. The officer arrested the defendant at the hospital and directed a physician to take a sample of the defendant’s blood which revealed he was intoxicated. The defendant objected to this evidence at trial, saying it was seized pursuant to a warrantless search in violation of the Fourth Amendment.

The U.S. Supreme Court made two significant findings inSchmerber: that the drawing of an individual’s blood for evidentiary purposes implicated the Fourth Amendment and that under ordinary circumstances a warrant must be obtained before a nonconsensual blood draw can be performed. The High Court, however, carved out a limited exception to the warrant requirement for blood draws in alcohol-related cases: that a delay in obtaining a warrant risked the destruction of evidence. The Court then cautioned that there must be “special facts” as in theSchmerbercase to avoid the warrant requirement: an officer facing the time necessary to get the defendant and his passenger to a hospital along with time needed to investigate a traffic accident scene.

In theMcNeelycase, the State tried to stretchSchmerberas “broad authority to direct medical professionals to conduct warrantless and nonconsensual blood draws on DWI defendants on mere probable cause of intoxication.” The State premised its argument on the theory that the dissipation rate of blood-alcohol evidence alone should be an exigency sufficient to circumvent the warrant requirement in alcohol-related cases. This argument has been rejected in a number of other states; Utah and Iowa, for example. The Missouri Supreme Court elected to follow the lead of these two states, rejecting the State’s argument (which has been accepted by courts in some states) saying: “This Court cannot agree with these interpretations ofSchmerber. InSchmerber, the Supreme Court rejected aper seexigency and explicitly warned against such expansive interpretations.”

The issue before the U.S. Supreme Court then is essentially whether the dissipation rate of blood-alcohol evidence, standing alone, is sufficient probable cause to justify the intrusion into a person’s body without a warrant.

THE JARDINES CASE

In 2006 the Miami-Dade County Police Department received an unverified “crime stoppers” tip that the home of Joelis Jardines was being used as what police refer to as a “hydroponic marijuana grow house.” A month later two detectives, accompanied by a drug detection dog, went to the residence where they observed it for signs of a hydroponic marijuana grow house: blinds closed, no observable human activity, high intensity light bulbs burning, A/C running without cycling off, and no vehicles in the driveway. With the drug detection dog on its leash, its handler approached the front door of the residence where it “alerted to the scent of contraband.” Based on this information, the detectives prepared an affidavit for a search warrant which was issued.

Against this factual backdrop, the Florida Supreme Court faced two related issues: first, whether a “sniff test” by a drug detection dog at the front door of a residence is a search itself under the Fourth Amendment, and, second, if so, whether the evidentiary showing of wrongdoing necessary for the police to conduct this type of search is probable cause or reasonable suspicion. The Court concluded:

“First, the ‘dog sniff’ that was conducted in the present case was an intrusive procedure … the ‘sniff test’ was a sophisticated undertaking that was the end result of a sustained and coordinated effort by various law enforcement agencies. On the scene, the procedure involved multiple police vehicles, multiple law enforcement personnel, including narcotics detectives and other officers, and an experienced dog handler and trained drug detection dog engaged in a vigorous search effort on the front porch of the residence. Tactical law enforcement personnel from various government agencies, both state and federal, were on the scene for surveillance and backup purposes. The entire on-the-scene activity—i.e., the preparation for the ‘sniff test,’ the test itself, and the aftermath, which culminated in the full-blown search of Jardines’ home—lasted for hours. The ‘sniff test’ apparently took place in plain view of the general public. There was no anonymity for the resident.

“Such a public spectacle unfolding in a residential neighborhood will invariably entail a degree of public opprobrium, humiliation and embarrassment for the resident, for such dramatic government activity in the eyes of many—neighbors, passers-by, and the public at large—will be viewed as an official accusation of crime. Further, if government agents can conduct a ‘dog sniff’ at a private residence without any prior evidentiary showing of wrongdoing, there is nothing to prevent the agents from applying the procedure in an arbitrary or discriminatory manner, or based on whim or fancy, at the home of any citizen. Such an open-ended policy invites overbearing and harassing conduct. Accordingly, we conclude that a ‘sniff test,’ such as the test that was conducted in the present case, is a substantial government intrusion into the sanctity of the home and constitutes a ‘search’ within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. As such, it must be preceded by an evidentiary showing of wrongdoing.

“And second, we note that the parties in the present case have failed to point to a single case in which the United States Supreme Court has indicated that a search for evidence for use in a criminal prosecution, absent special needs beyond the normal need of law enforcement, may be based on anything other than probable cause. We assume that this is because … all that Court’s precedent in this area indicates just the opposite. And that precedent, we recognize, applies with extra force where the sanctity of the home is concerned. Accordingly, we conclude that probable cause, not reasonable suspicion, is the proper evidentiary showing of wrongdoing that the government must make prior to conducting a dog ‘sniff test’ at a private residence.”

CONCLUSION

If the U.S. Supreme Court adheres to the deferential federal standard generally applied to decisions rendered by state supreme courts, it will uphold the decisions by the Missouri and Florida supreme courts. However, if the Court believes that either or both of the decisions run counter to its Fourth Amendment jurisprudence, it will vacate those decisions and impose its own constitutional will. Regardless of how the High Court rules, but especially if the Court upholds the lower courts, it will have a significant impact on law enforcement efforts and individual privacy rights in this country.

From a criminal defense perspective, we feel that law enforcement has assumed too much “police power” in its crime prevention and detection efforts, especially in the “war” on drugs. In cases of search and seizures, the police should, as the Florida Supreme Court said, be required to have sufficient probable cause of criminal wrongdoing before they can secure a warrant, especially when it comes to a “dog sniff” of someone’s home; and the police should not, as the Missouri Supreme Court said, be allowed to invade the privacy of someone’s body in alcohol-related cases without a warrant simply because the dissipation rate of alcohol in the blood stream.

The prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures in our society should not be undermined simply because the police have a “reasonable suspicion” of criminal activity. There should, and must be, a showing of probable cause above the mere reasonable suspicion of a law enforcement officer. Anything less puts us closer to a police-controlled state which in many respects since 9/11 we have become.

By: Houston Criminal Defense Attorney John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair
John Floyd is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization

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  • Avatar Neil Productions ★★★★★ 4 years ago
    Had the pleasure speaking with John Floyd on a personal matter, he was very responsive, nothing but exceptional, and he really cares about you with sincerity and most importantly knows … More what is he talking about! No games or bs, his approach to my situation even though I knew it was probably way smaller then what he normally takes on, he was extremely helpful and didn't care about the size of the matter like other attorneys do. He really looked out for my best interests. You can tell he has decades of experience doing what he does just by chatting with him. I would highly recommend him.
  • Avatar S A ★★★★★ 4 years ago
    Words can’t describe how grateful I am for working with John, he went above and beyond my expectation. I was wrongly accused and hired many lawyers before hiring John Floyd but they … More all disappointed me, I had lost hope until a friend of mine referred me to John. From the start he had my best interest in mind and gave helpful advice, he explained the process and guided me. He put more work and time than all my previous lawyers that cost me thousands of dollars. He was constantly communicating with court and defended me more than all lawyer i had hired before him. Don’t waste your time and money like I did, believe me when I say I hired countless lawyers before him and no one came close to John. I’m forever thankful for him for fighting for my innocence and getting my case dismissed. Thank you so much🙏🏼🙏🏼
  • Avatar Gary Watch ★★★★★ 4 years ago
    I called Mr Floyd and left a message, with in the hour I received a call back with much more information then I could have ever expected. Mr Floyd was very informative on every question … More I had for him. He seemed like he cared, instead of like most attorneys that you talk to that are just out for a quick buck. If you want someone that is going to shoot strait with you, and has your best interest in hand, this is you guy. This was the best experience that I have ever had with an lawyer.
  • Avatar Saman Daftarian ★★★★★ 4 years ago
    I can state with confidence that Mr. Floyd and his team are the most competent and professional lawyers one can hope for. My case was quite complex and I admit that as a law student … More I was not the most patient client. Mr. Floyd did a phenomenal job of managing the bench, prosecution and myself! The result was above expectation, and I will never hesitate to recommend this firm regardless of the caliber of the case at issue.
  • Avatar calvin robinson ★★★★★ 4 years ago
    It was a pleasure working with Mr. Floyd. I contacted him regarding a legal matter and he was extremely knowledgeable about the law, and responded in a timely manner. I appreciated … More the fact I did not feel rushed, and he made sure he thoroughly answered all questions I had. I would highly recommend him!Positive
    Responsiveness, Professionalism …More
  • Avatar Alan Howk ★★★★★ 4 years ago
    Spoke with John Floyd about a 45 year old criminal case I was involved in. I had very little information about the case and John helped me search what records were available and gave … More me guidance to find more information. He was very professional and took his time helping me. I may need to hire a lawyer on this case and Mr. Floyd will be the man.Thanks John.
  • Avatar CMCustom Cycles ★★★★★ 4 years ago
    Very professional and straight forward. He's not going to waste your time or money. Very knowledgeable in a large range of possible matters one could face living in these days … More and times. If ever you need legal assistance, this is who I would suggest. Awesome!Positive
    Responsiveness, Quality, Professionalism, Value …More
  • Avatar Greg Page ★★★★★ 4 years ago
    I called about some legal questions I needed to get clarified and John was able to give me clarification and sound advice. I will definitely contact John for all future legal questions … More and issues.Thank you John!Positive
    Responsiveness, Professionalism, Value …More
  • Avatar Kristen Rankin ★★★★★ 4 years ago
    Knows his stuff and well respected with DA and judges. I have referred him a couple times and every client has been satisfied
  • Avatar Kedar Puranik ★★★★★ 4 years ago
    John is beyond knowledgeable! If I decide to pursue my case any further I would only have him represent me.
  • Avatar Joseph Sivadon ★★★★★ 4 years ago
    What a great attorney, this guy really took time out of his day to answer my questions and explain my case to me. Very grateful, thank you so muchPositive
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  • Avatar Lex Strider ★★★★★ 4 years ago
    Absolutely a very professional lawyer. Very well read in the current law and more than willing to help if needed.
  • Avatar karim khalifa ★★★★★ 4 years ago
    Mr. John he’s a professional he knows what he’s doing and he’s patient they recommend Him stronglyPositive
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  • Avatar James Haggard ★★★★★ 4 years ago
    Great service, very knowledgable and happy to help with any questions I had
  • Avatar David Sustaita ★★★★★ 4 years ago
    Quick to action and helpful and knowledgeable with entertainment industry based issues!
  • Avatar Chad Groves ★★★★★ 4 years ago
    Responded on a holiday week. Very knowledgeable and reassuring.
  • Avatar Mark Fein ★★★★★ 4 years ago
    Very professional
  • Avatar Bthomason903 Bthomason903 ★★★★★ 4 years ago
  • Avatar Anton Jasser ★★★★★ 4 years ago
  • Avatar Alma Garza ★★★★★ 4 years ago
  • Avatar Victory 2020 ★★★★★ 6 years ago
    I want to thank John T. Floyd and all of his team. He is the best lawyer who cares aboutHis clients and fights really hard to get the best outcome. He is a fighter and he is awesome!!!I … More recommend if any one needs criminal defense , he is the BEST. We had a really serious caseAnd we are very thankful for the outcome. Thank you John!!!!! God bless you!!!!!!
  • Avatar Alma Garcia Cunningham ★★★★★ 6 years ago
    The attorneys at John T. Floyd Law Firm work diligently to achieve the best possible results for their clients. They are caring and knowledgeable professionals. Their expertise in the … More law and their experience as trial attorneys makes them the right choice as a defense attorney. I recommend this law firm highly.
  • Avatar Rajiv Patel ★★★★★ 6 years ago
    From beginning to end this firm handled my case like the top tier professionals they are. I would not trust ANYONE else with my legal needs after having less than stellar experiences … More with other teams. Thank you Floyd!!!
  • Avatar Jose Tapia ★★★★★ 6 years ago
    I really felt like the team cared about my case and am super satisfied with the outcome. Would not recommend anyone else!
  • Avatar Sagar Patel ★★★★★ 6 years ago
    These guys do amazing work and have phenomenal service! Hands down best in the Houston area!!
  • Avatar RAYNINN ★★★★★ 6 years ago
    John and Chris are true professionals! Love those guys like family!
  • Avatar Virginia Martin ★★★★★ 6 years ago
    Mr. Floyd and his team are very knowledgeable, informative, and helpful.
  • Avatar Darla Latham ★★★★★ 6 years ago
    A team you can depend on to stand up and fight for you to prove the truth the whole truth!
  • Avatar Veronica Elorza ★★★★★ 6 years ago
  • Avatar Karetta Lux ★★★★★ 7 years ago
    Mr. John T. Floyd represented me.I couldn't be happier with the outcome he managed to achieve on an VERY Important case that was dismissed the day of Trial. He is patient & … More very knowledgeable of the legal system. I HIGHLY recommend him to anyone in need of a lawyer!John, I am forever grateful & satisfied with the effort you put forth & all you did for me. Thank you isn't enough!God bless you & your family!
  • Avatar GM ★★★★★ 8 years ago
    The John T. Floyd Law Firm assisted me, and I can tell you that the attorney took the time to answer my questions, and I didn't feel rushed or dismissed as I have experienced in … More the past with attorneys. The attorney was very nice and extremely knowledgeable. Initial impressions and continued excellent customer service are big factors for me and as such I would highly recommend this firm.
  • Avatar Sandra Bivens ★★★★★ 8 years ago
    I thank you for your efforts to help Felons regain their Civil rights, and for the information on possession , I am A convicted Felon, no violent history. I am an expert shot, I am … More 76 yoa, and very concerned about the present lake of Security in our State and Country. God Bless and Prosper you in your efforts, Your friend, Sonny Bivens
  • Avatar Mike Kittelson ★★★★★ 8 years ago
    I really appreciated both Chris and John helping with my legal questions and concerns. Both are good guys and I would not hesitate to recommend them.
  • Avatar Robert Hair ★★★★★ 8 years ago
    Extremely helpful!!! Helping me understand the law.

John T. Floyd is Board Certified in Criminal Law By the Texas Board of Legal Specialization

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