Motion to Suppress

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Frank Caira

Case No.: 14-1003

Officials: RIPPLE, KANNE, and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Motion to Suppress

Appellant motion denied as he voluntarily shared relevant information with technology companies – therefore he did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the information provided.

“The critique advanced by Caira, Justice Sotomayor, and others, is not new. It was made in both Miller and Smith—in dissent. Miller, 425 U.S. at 451 (Brennan, J., dissenting); Smith, 442 U.S. at 750 (Marshall, J., dissenting). So it is true that at least one Justice believes “it may be necessary” to reconsider the third‐party doctrine. Jones, 132 S. Ct. at 957 (Sotomayor, J., concurring). But it is also true that “[t]he Supreme Court has … twice rejected [Caira’s critique]. Until the Court says other‐ wise, these holdings bind us.” Graham, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 9797 at*27. Because Caira voluntarily shared his I.P. addresses with Microsoft, he had no reasonable expectation of privacy in those addresses. So the DEA committed no Fourth Amend‐ ment “search” when it subpoenaed that information, and the district court was right to deny Caira’s motion to suppress.”

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.