United States v. Green, No. 20-2796 (8th Cir. 2022)
Annotate this CaseHerbert Green previously appealed the denial of his motion to suppress drugs and firearms discovered in his apartment during a law enforcement search outside the scope of the police’s warrant. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals remanded the case to the district court to make factual findings necessary to determine whether the independent source doctrine supported denial of Green’s motion to suppress. After additional briefing and an evidentiary hearing, the district court found law enforcement would have requested and obtained a federal warrant to search the apartment notwithstanding the protective sweep. Based on this finding, the Eighth Circuit held that the independent source doctrine justified the district court’s denial of suppression.
Court Description: [Grasz, Author, with Smith, Chief Judge, and Shepherd, Circuit Judge] Criminal case - Criminal law. For the court's prior opinion in the case remanding the matter to the district court to make factual findings necessary to determine whether the independent source doctrine supported denial of defendant's motion to suppress, see U.S. v. Green, 9 F.4th 682, 691-93 (8th Cir. 2021). On remand, the district court did not err in finding police would have requested and obtained a federal warrant to search the apartment notwithstanding the protective sweep; as a result, the district court did not err in holding the independent source doctrine justified denial of the motion to suppress; the police witness was credible when he testified he would have requested the warrant and probable cause supported the warrant independent of any tainted information gathered during the initial protective sweep.
This opinion or order relates to an opinion or order originally issued on August 13, 2021.
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