Gregory Chandler - Wisconsin Courts

Greetings:

While drafting a brief for a pro bono case in Kansas, I came across an interesting case out of Wisconsin.

The opinion reads that the use of a jackhammer to remove a portion of the concrete floor in a landlord's garage while executing a search warrant during a murder investigation in which the tenant was a suspect did not render the search unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment. Although the use of a diamond or carbide-bladed saw would have resulted in less damage to the garage floor, the use of the jackhammer was reasonable in order to gather blood samples from beneath the concrete.

The case is Johnson v. Manitowoc County, 2011 WL 814996 (C.A. 7-Wis.)

GREGORY CHANDLER, Attorney at Law