In United States v. Fisher, --- F.4th ---, No. 20-10098 (9th Cir. 2022), the Court affirmed the district court’s orders denying defendants Justin and Joshua Fisher’s joint motions to suppress evidence from two searches, in a case in which the defendants entered conditional guilty pleas to various sexual offenses against children.
The case centers around whether an affidavit for a search warrant contained false statements and/or material omissions.
"Defendants first argue that the district court erred in denying their first motion to suppress because the affidavit supporting the probable cause search warrant for Defendant Justin Fisher’s residence contained material, intentionally false and/or reckless statements and omissions that misled the issuing judge."
"Defendants further argue that the district court erred in denying their second motion to suppress for lack of standing because, contrary to the district court’s finding, Defendants had not abandoned certain technological devices seized from the residence after it was sold to a new owner."
The Court rejected both of these arguments.
As to the first, it found: "Defendants fail to point to any misstatements or omissions in Detective Miller’s affidavit that, if stricken or supplemented, would undermine the reasonableness of the ultimate probable cause determination."
As to the second, "We find that the district court did not clearly err by finding abandonment here, and accordingly, we conclude that Defendants lacked standing to challenge the 2018 search of the devices recovered from the Burkehaven Avenue Residence."
