United States Third Circuit
US v. Brown, 09-3643
In a prosecution of defendant for bank robbery and armed bank robbery, district court's grant of defendant's motion to suppress a sample of his DNA on the ground that it had been obtained by way of materially and recklessly false warrant affidavit is affirmed where: 1) a district court's resolution of the question whether a particular false statement in a warrant affidavit was made with reckless disregard for the truth is subject to reversal only upon a finding of clear error; 2) a court may properly infer that an affiant acted with reckless disregard for the truth where his affidavit contains an averment that was without sufficient basis at the time he drafted it; and 3) because the total lack of an evidentiary basis for making an averment can constitute an obvious reason for doubting that averment's veracity, the district court did not clearly err in finding that the officer's conduct rose beyond the level of negligence, to the point of recklessness.
Appellate Information
- Decided 01/20/2011
- Published 01/20/2011
Judges
Court
- United States Third Circuit
Counsel
- For Appellant:
- Rebecca R. Haywood, Elisa A. Long