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Juan Zamudio v. United States

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, No. 18-1529 · judgment November 20, 2018


Certiorari denied · October 7, 2019
Pre-decision estimate: 3% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Question presented

Several federal courts of appeals, including the Seventh Circuit in the decision below, hold that the mere fact a defendant has engaged in drug trafficking can establish probable cause for a search warrant to search the defendant’s home, even if there is no specific evidence linking the drug trafficking to the defendant’s home. Two federal courts of appeals and at least five state courts of last resort, in contrast, require that the search warrant application provide a particularized nexus between the drug trafficking activity and the home to be searched. The question presented is: Whether a search warrant application that fails to provide any particularized nexus between an individual’s alleged drug trafficking activity and the individual’s residence can provide probable cause for a warrant to search the residence.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
David Aaron Strauss

For respondent
Noel John Francisco
Jones Day

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Linked docket
18A821

Proceedings

  1. Oct 07 2019
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Jul 26 2019
    Reply of petitioner Juan Zamudio filed. (Distributed)
  3. Jul 24 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/1/2019.
  4. Jul 08 2019
    Brief of respondent United States in opposition filed.
  5. Jun 05 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including July 8, 2019.
  6. Jun 03 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from June 21, 2019 to July 8, 2019, submitted to The Clerk.
  7. May 10 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including June 21, 2019.
  8. May 09 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from May 22, 2019 to June 21, 2019, submitted to The Clerk.
  9. Apr 17 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including May 22, 2019.
  10. Apr 16 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from April 22, 2019 to May 22, 2019, submitted to The Clerk.
  11. Mar 21 2019
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due April 22, 2019)
  12. Feb 08 2019
    Application (18A821) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from February 18, 2019 to March 21, 2019, submitted to Justice Kavanaugh.
  13. Feb 08 2019
    Application (18A821) granted by Justice Kavanaugh extending the time to file until March 21, 2019.