Better Call Saul: Need a Will? Hire McGill!

BETTER CALL SAUL

First, a note on storytelling.  This episode was an episode of redemption, humanity, and humility.

How appropriately timed?!  Just as I prepare to present a Motion to Suppress in a BS racial profiling "welfare check" marijuana case, the cops on Better Call Saul come through big time with an illegal and unlawful search and seizure.

I guess Hollywood, or Albuquerque isn't all that different from real life.  

It's no wonder that years down the line (the inspection sticker indicates this is all going down in 2002) Walter White was able to get away with murder, and cooking the purest meth in the west, when the brow-beating-beat-cops are worried about stolen news papers. That type of "glass windows" policing is a waste of time, so let's get straight to it, and I will put it in Motion Form:  

The issue in this case is whether the police violated Mr. McGill's rights under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, by barging into his house without a search or arrest warrant.  

Here in the United States of American, the greatest country of all time, we have this little thing called the Fourth Amendment.  The Fourth Amendment protects citizens and non-citizens alike from unreasonable searches and seizures.  All warrantless searches are PRESUMED unconstitutional. That is great, right?  Well, unfortunately we don't quite enjoy as much liberty (i.e., freedom from the government) as we like to think we do because over the last 50 years or so, more exceptions to the 4th amendment have been created than there are holes in your average block of Swiss cheese.  The irony is that the guys on Fox News clamor about liberty, but they are also the ones pushing the laws that erode it, and there is no denying that.

This chart demonstrates the different standards of proof, and what the government can get away with under each standard.

For example, a cop can "stop-and-frisk" a person if he has a reasonable suspicion that a person may be armed, and the cop is doing it for his own safety.  This is such a law standard that millions of minorities have been the victims of terry frisks in NYC merely because they were a minority, or wearing baggy pants, or just alive. 

The next level of proof is probable cause. You can be pulled over or arrested based on probable cause, which is more than a mere hunch. Probable cause is a belief that a crime occurred, is occurring, or is going to imminently occur based on specific articulate facts.

However, a search of a home, such as in episode 5 of Better Call Saul, requires a search warrant. Now, a search warrant is issued based on probable cause, however, the warrants requirement acts as a buffer between law enforcement and our liberties.  John Hancock and crew knew just as well as Jimmy and Chuck that we can't trust the police.

In order for a search warrant to be issued, a cop must present a sworn search warrant affidavit to a neutral and detached judge.  If the judge finds probable cause to arrest a person or to search and seize specific evidence, then the judge may sign the search or arrest warrant particularly describing the person to be arrested or the place to be searched and things to be seized.  The the police must then go out and execute the search warrant within a reasonable time.

So let's say, as in this episode, the police show up without a warrant, armed only with an accusation that a petty crime was committed. The cops suspect that the suspect is off his rocker.  The cops do a little peeking and see something they believe would lead them to believe the suspect is cooking meth...what a foreshadowing scene. 

First, can the cops peak into a back window?  Probably not, especially if they had to go through the back yard to get to the back window, because the back door, as curtilage, has a reasonable expectation of privacy.  "But what about the plain view doctrine?" some of you nerds may be saying!

Well, the plain view doctrine states that if evidence of a crime is in plain view, it may be seized. Here, however, I would argue that my client had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his home, especially the back door, and the police entered onto his property without a warrant to peak into the back door. By peaking into the back door, the police developed probable cause to break in the front door.  If Because the evidence was found without a warrant, it is fruit of the poisonous tree and thus cant be used against my client and I will fight TOOTH AND NAIL to suppress it.

A few quick notes:

---- Sovereign citizens really exist.  I do not have personal experience with one, but I have heard some stories about the ridiculous stunts they pull in court, such as denying that the courts have jurisdiction to hear cases about them.

---- Elder law really is the future with all the baby boomers getting to Depends age.  Writing wills and trusts is not necessarily elder law, and you should consider having a lawyer write a will for you while you are young, because you never know what may happen.

---- Finally, Howard Hamlin.  When he came power walking through the hospital corridors, that mean one thing and one thing only (okay maybe two).  It meant that whatever Howard was about to say was based on self-preservation.  Whatever came out of his mouth was the exact opposite of what should have been done.  Lots of times a prosecutor will fight for something, win, and then not use what they won.  This means they realized it was bad for them, which means maybe you should use what you wanted to keep out.  Just a thought.

----  For all you youngins out there.  Jimmy was taking notes on the dress and presumably the oratory skills of the great Perry Mason, the best television lawyer of all time.  Perry Mason portrayed criminal defense and plaintiff's lawyers as heroes, which is what we (they) really are.  We need more Perry Masons on TV instead of the CSIs and SVUs that portray criminal defense lawyers as the scum of the earth.

Like my Facebook Page

Marijuana Lawyer

Drug Lawyer

Assault Lawyer