Court Opinion

ID: 9441602
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 17:57:09.160367+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:28:31.638771
License: Public Domain

DUNCAN, Circuit Judge,
concurring separately and concurring in the judgment:
This is a particularly troubling set of circumstances and I commend the majority for its thorough parsing of the facts. I am in ultimate agreement with its conclusion and write separately only to explain my somewhat different analytical approach.
The majority carefully considers each prong of the good faith analysis raised by Doyle but ultimately relies on the staleness of the evidence to preclude application of the Leon exception. Staleness is indeed an issue here, though I remain unconvinced that it is, standing alone, dis-positive. For my part, rather, it is the totality of irregularities and questionable actions — Lieutenant Rouse’s unsworn testimony in support of the warrant, the fact that the affiant to the search warrant did not participate in the investigation, and the paucity of evidence regarding child pornography — that ultimately tips the scales in favor of reversal and provides guidance for law enforcement and the district courts going forward. Cf. U.S. v. DeQuasie, 373 F.3d 509, 520 (4th Cir.2004) (considering “all of the circumstances of the case” when evaluating the applicability of the Leon exception (quoting Leon, 468 U.S. at 922 n. 23,104 S.Ct. 3405)).