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CA6: $100k verdict against officer procuring bad SW affirmed

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

$100,000 verdict for a wrongful search warrant arising from a landlord tenant dispute was affirmed. Ellison v. Balinski, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 23409, 2010 FED App. 0353P (6th Cir. November 12, 2010): In any case, even assuming the existence of probable cause as to the occurrence of a crime, the affidavit failed entirely to establish a nexus between the material to be seized and the place to be searched. The affidavit did not state how Defendant came to know that MyaBrooke Properties was located at the residence, or, more critically, why documentation of an allegedly fraudulent mortgage might with a fair probability be found there. Given these rather stark defects in the affidavit, a reasonable jury could conclude that Defendant lacked probable cause when she applied for the warrant to search Plaintiff's residence...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on November 15, 2010 (boomark / email).