United States v. Brandon Tessier
814 F.3d 432
| 6th Cir. | 2016Background
- Defendant Brandon Tessier, on probation for a Tennessee felony sexual-exploitation conviction, was subject to Tennessee’s standard probation search condition permitting warrantless searches of person, vehicle, property, or residence “at any time.”
- Federal officers conducting a county-wide sweep of known sex-offender residences (Operation Sonic Boom) entered Tessier’s residence without reasonable suspicion and discovered child pornography on a laptop.
- Tessier pled guilty to a federal child-pornography charge but preserved his right to appeal the denial of his motion to suppress the evidence seized in the search.
- The district court denied the motion to suppress, applying the totality-of-the-circumstances reasonableness approach from United States v. Knights.
- On appeal the Sixth Circuit affirmed, adopting the district court’s Knights-based analysis and rejecting arguments that Henry or other cases require reasonable suspicion whenever a probation search condition is present.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether a probationer subject to a broad search-condition may be searched without reasonable suspicion | Tessier: Knights left open the question; reasonable suspicion is required for probationer home searches | Government: Under Knights, a totality-of-the-circumstances reasonableness analysis upholds the search even without reasonable suspicion when a valid probation search condition exists | Search upheld; district court affirmed — the Knights totality test supports the search in these circumstances |
| Whether United States v. Henry requires reasonable suspicion for probationer searches | Tessier: Sixth Circuit precedent in Henry shows reasonable suspicion is the touchstone | Government: Henry applied Griffin to a state policy and is distinguishable; it does not control searches authorized by probation conditions permitting suspicionless searches | Henry distinguished — it involved a state policy requiring reasonable suspicion and does not govern a broad probation search condition |
| Whether other circuits require reasonable suspicion for home searches of probationers/parolees | Tessier: Majority of circuits require reasonable suspicion | Government: Cases cited either upheld searches with reasonable suspicion or addressed less-intrusive visits; they do not establish a circuit-wide rule requiring reasonable suspicion for probation searches | Court rejects claim of a circuit consensus; cited decisions are either fact-specific or inapplicable dicta |
| Whether Tessier’s signed probation condition constitutes valid consent to suspicionless searches | Tessier: (argued against applying consent theory) | Government: The signed condition and Tennessee law treat the standard condition as permitting suspicionless searches; Samson supports diminished privacy expectations for supervised releasees | Court affirms without resolving consent doctrine fully but Siler concurrence would uphold via valid waiver/consent under Tennessee practice and Samson reasoning |
Key Cases Cited
- United States v. Knights, 534 U.S. 112 (2001) (probationer search upheld under totality-of-circumstances reasonableness analysis)
- Samson v. California, 547 U.S. 843 (2006) (parolee’s diminished expectation of privacy supports suspicionless searches under parole condition)
- Griffin v. Wisconsin, 483 U.S. 868 (1987) (two-step inquiry for state policies authorizing warrantless searches of probationers)
- United States v. Henry, 429 F.3d 603 (6th Cir. 2005) (upholding policy that requires reasonable suspicion; search invalid where officers lacked reasonable suspicion)
- United States v. Loney, 331 F.3d 516 (6th Cir. 2003) (discussing Griffin framework for evaluating probation/parole search policies)
- United States v. Baker, 221 F.3d 438 (3d Cir. 2000) (construing Pennsylvania parole consent form under state law to require reasonable suspicion)