October 9, 2026 Case Summaries

Ha! I was right. Or at least one federal judge thinks so. Chatrie (coupled with Carpenter) changed the Fourth Amendment landscape. A search occurs when a police officer rummages location history accumulated through FLOCK or other automatic license plate reader (ALPR) technology. Granted, this is a district court order suppressing evidence and not an opinion by the Tenth Circuit – “But it’s a start.” Oh. And for good measure, ignoring the ALPR issue, the judge found the officer lacked reasonable suspicion to investigate drug trafficking after the traffic stop concluded. Two good grounds for suppression! Hopefully, the Tenth Circuit doesn’t change this result. Fair warning, the full summary is really long – even by my current standards. Settle in with a Friday afternoon beverage of choice and enjoy some good news.

The trial court reversibly erred by improperly instructing the jury on the correct mental state for attempted first-degree murder.

The prosecution presented insufficient evidence to support the jury’s verdict that Fregosi caused over $2,000 of damage by kicking the victim’s car after a terrible, horrible, no good first date.