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NUMBER 3 OF BILL WOLF’S “TOP TEN” FOURTH AMENDMENT CASES FOR ILLINOIS LAWYERS: THE ILLINOIS SUPREME COURT CASE OF PEOPLE V. MANZO

On Behalf of | Dec 29, 2019 | Firm News

This case was actually decided in December of 2018, but my law clerk convinced me that it should be included in my presentation, and I believe she was right.

In this case, the Illinois Supreme Court concluded that the affidavit for a search warrant for a home was nothing more than a “bare bones’ affidavit with respect to the Defendant’s home. The police were investigating a woman by the name of Casilas, which included three narcotics transactions with undercover officers, two of the three of them being in the vicinity of the Defendant’s home where a known associate of Casilas lived.

The warrant sought that the judge signed was for Casilas, a specific vehicle, and the home. The Court found these facts to be insufficient for the home, and refused to invoke the good faith exception because the affidavit so lacked indicia of probable cause (“bare bones”) as to render official belief in its existence unreasonable.

The case is People v. Manzo, 2018 IL 122761 (2018). Decided 12/28/2018.

https://courts.illinois.gov/Opinions/SupremeCourt/2018/122761.pdf