Diminishes Privacy Expectation for Those in Pretrial Intervention Programs

Probation officers legitimately executed a warrantless search, based on reasonable suspicion, of the house of a man in a pretrial intervention program.

 

Castillo v. United States, 2016 BL 77940, 11th Cir., No. 13-11757, 3/15/16

     The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit used the same rationale that is used to justify warrantless searches of probationers and parolees; namely, the state's strong interest in rehabilitating persons who enter pretrial intervention.

     The man had a diminished expectation of privacy in his home because he had entered into a pre-trial intervention program as a part of a deferred prosecution agreement. Furthermore, the court rejected an ineffective assistance of counsel claim for failing to contest the search, because the officers acted after receiving an solid tip which led to "reasonable suspicion" that the defendant possessed a firearm, which was a violation of his deferred prosecution agreement.

http://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/desktop/document/Castillo_v_United_States_No_1311757_2016_BL_77940_11th_Cir_Mar_15?1459453775