"Knock and Talk" Scrutinized by COA Post-Jardines
Yesterday, the Michigan Court of Appeals decided an interesting 4th Amendment issue relating to a popular tactic utilized by police departments across the State of Michigan, "knock and talk." In the consolidated cases of People v Frederick and People v Van Doorne , Kent County Circuit Judge Dennis Leiber had denied each defendant's motion to suppress. Each filed applications for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeals that were denied. The Supreme Court, however, remanded the cases as on leave granted to consider whether the "knock and talk" procedure used by the Kent Area Narcotics Enforcement Team (KANET) violated the 4th Amendment pursuant to the United States Supreme Court's holding in Florida v Jardines , ___ US ___; 133 S Ct 1409; 185 L Ed 2d 495 (2013) . In Jardines , Justice Scalia wrote the opinion for the majority, concluding that police officers who approach a house and enter onto the front porch with a drug detection canine, do so in vi...