Motion to suppress sample of defendant's DNA in conviction for armed bank robbery
US v. Brown, 09-3643, concerned a challenge to the district court's grant of defendant's motion to suppress a sample of his
DNA on the ground that it had been obtained by way of materially and
recklessly false warrant affidavit, in a prosecution of defendant for bank robbery and armed bank robbery.
In affirming, the court held that a district court's resolution of the
question whether a particular false statement in a warrant affidavit was
made with reckless disregard for the truth is subject to reversal only
upon a finding of clear error. The court also held that a court may
properly infer that an affiant acted with reckless disregard for the
truth where his affidavit contains an averment that was without
sufficient basis at the time he drafted it. Lastly, because the total
lack of an evidentiary basis for making an averment can constitute an
obvious reason for doubting that averment's veracity, the district court
did not clearly err in finding that the officer's conduct rose beyond
the level of negligence, to the point of recklessness.