FBI conducts search by disrupting Internet service, posing as repairmen [pdf]
ia902603.us.archive.org
FBI conducts search by disrupting Internet service, posing as repairmen [pdf]
1–10 of 28 posts
Re: FBI conducts search by disrupting Internet service, posing as repairmen [pdf]
#2TL;DR?
Re: FBI conducts search by disrupting Internet service, posing as repairmen [pdf]
#3TL;DR?
Basically the judge agreed with the defendant that the FBI breaking the internet and then pretending to be repair techs sent in to fix it was an illegal search and thus anything they saw during their visit was in admissible (suppressed).
As there were a couple of instances of that they have to file a few more motions to suppress the rest of the FBI evidence but basically it looks like the judge will come down on their side.
In general I am glad that the judge decided that way, it should never be acceptable for law enforcement to go snooping around without a warrant. However, I've also noted in such cases that when the government loses like this they often put pressure on the property owners to avoid such losses in the future, and so I would not be surprised if Cesar's and other hotel chains will start including in their room contract, language clauses that allow them to grant access to the rooms to third parties with "reasonable need".
Re: FBI conducts search by disrupting Internet service, posing as repairmen [pdf]
#4TL;DR?
"Here, the government disrupted the internet service to the
defendant’s hotel room in order to generate a repair call. Government agents then posed as repairmen to gain access to the defendant’s room and conduct a surreptitious search for evidence of an illegal sports betting operation. By creating the need for a third party to enter defendant’s premises and then posing as repairmen to gain entry, the government violated the defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights."
Re: FBI conducts search by disrupting Internet service, posing as repairmen [pdf]
#5TL;DR?
The first nine lines of the first page. Legal documents are good like that. :-)
Re: FBI conducts search by disrupting Internet service, posing as repairmen [pdf]
#6TL;DR?
A bad a precedent (government sidestepping obtaining a warrant by just shutting down utilities and posing as repairmen) was shot down by a district court despite the magistrate judge suggesting that it didn't violate the 4th amendment because the defendant was not coerced/put under duress into consent. The district judge thought otherwise.
Re: FBI conducts search by disrupting Internet service, posing as repairmen [pdf]
#7TL;DR?
Basically the judge agreed with the defendant that the FBI breaking the internet and then pretending to be repair techs sent in to fix it was an illegal search and thus anything they saw during their visit was in admissible (suppressed). As there were a couple of instances of that they have to file a few more motions to suppress the rest of the FBI evidence but basically it looks like the judge will come down on thei…
> language clauses that allow them to grant access to the rooms to third parties with "reasonable need"
It's already almost certainly there. Its also there in virtually all rental agreements; the existing caselaw (cited in this decision) supports the position that using the managements authority to access for 'need' as a pretext for a search is unlawful.
Re: FBI conducts search by disrupting Internet service, posing as repairmen [pdf]
#8"He interviewed hotel employees who had been inside villa 8888 and had seen a number of computers, monitors, and chairs set up in a configuration that resembled a boiler room bookie operation."
I love how real world legal documents read like old crime novels. The imagery cast upon a villa at Caesar's by being compared to a boiler room is top notch. :)
Re: FBI conducts search by disrupting Internet service, posing as repairmen [pdf]
#9It's unfortunate that our law enforcement agents disregard the law. It's good that the judicial branch is enforcing our constitution, but saying the evidence is inadmissible is not good enough. The law enforcement agents should be held punitively accountable. Civil rights are violated, and law enforcement should be penalized for these violations.
Re: FBI conducts search by disrupting Internet service, posing as repairmen [pdf]
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
Basically the judge agreed with the defendant that the FBI breaking the internet and then pretending to be repair techs sent in to fix it was an illegal search and thus anything they saw during their visit was in admissible (suppressed). As there were a couple of instances of that they have to file a few more motions to suppress the rest of the FBI evidence but basically it looks like the judge will come down on thei…
> language clauses that allow them to grant access to the rooms to third parties with "reasonable need" It's already almost certainly there. Its also there in virtually all rental agreements; the existing caselaw (cited in this decision) supports the position that using the managements authority to access for 'need' as a pretext for a search is unlawful.
> Its also there in virtually all rental agreements; the existing caselaw (cited in this decision) supports the position that using the managements authority to access for 'need' as a pretext for a search is unlawful.
Does that same caselaw imply that if police want to search an apartment without a warrant, and a landlord lets them in, but the tenant did not grant permission, the search was illegal? I was under the impression that that was permitted, which is a downside of living in an apartment/rental.