Phone First, Warrant Second? The Eighth Circuit Upholds Emergency Seizure of Digital Evidence
United States v. Evans, No. 25-1926 (8th Cir. June 9, 2026) TL;DR The Eighth Circuit upheld the conviction of a man who secretly recorded a 15-year-old girl bathing through a bathroom transom window. The court held that even if the suspect's initial consent to surrender his phone was questionable because an officer mentioned obstruction charges, the seizure was nevertheless lawful under the exigent-circumstances exception because officers had probable cause and a reasonable b
4 min read
The Wrong Man with the Rifle: Fifth Circuit Finds Officer's Deadly-Force Mistake Was Constitutionally Reasonable
Martinez v. Hinojosa, (5th Cir. June 4, 2026) TL;DR The Fifth Circuit held that a police officer who mistakenly shot an innocent man during an active-shooter incident did not violate the Fourth Amendment because the officer's mistake was objectively reasonable under the circumstances. The court found that Officer David Hinojosa reasonably believed Jorge Martinez was the active shooter when Martinez emerged from a house carrying the suspect's rifle during an ongoing police gun
5 min read