United States v. James Grant, III

James Grant III (“Grant”) was convicted for being a felon in possession of a firearm. We consider in this case whether the basis for the search that resulted in Grant’s conviction was so attenuated as to require suppression of the firearms evidence found in the search. The district court held that there was indeed a lack of probable cause to issue the warrant authorizing the search, but invoked the good faith reliance doctrine of United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897 , 104 S.Ct. 3405 , 82 L.Ed.2d 677 (1984), to permit use of the evidence. We agree as to probable cause but not as to the application of the Leon doctrine, and so reverse.

I. Background

Detective Ryan Thompson (“Thompson”) obtained a warrant to search Grant’s home. Thompson sought to recover, among other evidence, a firearm used in a homicide that had occurred nearly nine months earlier. There was no indication that Grant had been involved in the homicide. Thompson suspected, however, that two of Grant’s sons had some connection to the murder or its aftermath.

As it turned out, the searching officers turned up nothing pertinent to the homicide. But, they did find two firearms and ammunition belonging to…