Out of curiosity, is there a consensus in Texas regarding this decision? Personally, I think this is a huge assault on the 4th amendment.
Not that I'm in favor of anyone cooking meth, but in some situations, I see this working out as "Take a tip from a manufactured CI, do a search, find evidence, then get a search warrant." Really?
Texas Court Rules That Police May Introduce Illegally-Gathered Evidence At Trial
In 2010, police in Parker County, Texas received a call from a confidential informant (CI) who claimed that Fred Wehrenberg and a number of associates “were fixin’” to cook meth. Hours after the call–at 12:30 A.M the following day–police entered the Wehrenberg home without a warrant and against the wishes of Wehrenberg. Police handcuffed all of the occupants, held them in the front yard, and proceeded to perform what the officers described as a “protective sweep” of the residence. An hour and a half later, after finding no meth being made on the premises, police prepared a search warrant affidavit and secured the warrant.
In the affidavit, police stated that information concerning Wehrenberg’s activities had been provided by a confidential informant. However, “…the judge who signed that search warrant was not informed by the language of the affidavit…that the police had already (1) taken custody of everyone in the place and held them in the front yard; and (2) entered the home already to look around.”
Not that I'm in favor of anyone cooking meth, but in some situations, I see this working out as "Take a tip from a manufactured CI, do a search, find evidence, then get a search warrant." Really?
Texas Court Rules That Police May Introduce Illegally-Gathered Evidence At Trial
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