11-30-2024, 08:11 AM
(1). The FBI Springfield office received a tip that Todd E. Daugherty (M/W D.O.B. 07/05/1968) posted on internet social forum Hateandflame.com the following comment "Fuck you you stalking mother fuckers. I'll show you who is 'austic'. I'll go to fucking memorial elementary school and make sandy hook look like a Sunday school picnic.".
"The Device Warrant lacked probable cause because it was based on the statement of an anonymous informant whose credibility was completely uncorroborated by subsequent investigation. Instead, the warrant affidavit rests on the fact that a threatening online post contained publicly available information-Daugherty's name, ham radio signal, and a photograph."
"The affidavit in this case fails both prongs of Aguilar-Spinelli. Although the affidavit explained that the FBI received a tip, it did not establish that the individual who made that tip was a known or reliable informant. Instead, it merely stated that the "FBI Springfield office received a tip..." that it was Todd E. Daugherty. Furthermore, it did not establish the individual's basis of knowledge that the post was made by Todd Daugherty as opposed to someone using his name and information to impersonate him. For example, it did not state that the tipster was a website administrator who had access to log files showing the user's connection to Todd Daugherty. Nor did it state the tipster was a friend or acquaintance who overheard him discussing the post. Therefore, neither prong of Aguilar-Spinnelli was met."
"For similar reasons the Device Warrant fails the Gates "totality of circumstances" test. See Gates, 462 U.S. at 230. Neither probable cause nor reasonable suspicion can be based solely on an anonymous tip that merely provides the static details of a suspect's life along with an allegation of criminal conduct. See People v. Yarber, 279 Ill.App.3d 519, 529 (1996). This is true even when target has a prior criminal conviction. See id. at 523 (police confirmed Yarber's race, height, and weight through a criminal background check); see also United States v. Johnson, 427 F.3d 1053, 1057 (7th Cir. 2005)."
"In Florida v. J.L., an anonymous caller reported that a young black male was standing at a bus stop wearing a plaid shirt and carrying a gun. Florida v. J.L., 529 U.S. 266, 268 (2000). This anonymous tip was held to be insufficient even where police corroborated the location of the defendant and the type of clothing he was wearing. Id. at 272. This is because "[s]uch a tip...does not show that the tipster has knowledge of concealed criminal activity." Id. In Yarber, the fifth district extended that logic to a case where the anonymous tipster claimed that her best friends regularly bought cannabis from a man named Samuel Yarber and provided a physical description of Yarber, his address, and his place of employment. Yarber, 279 Ill.App.3d at 522. Police confirmed this information and stopped Yarber as he was leaving a train station. Id. at 521-522. However, the court found "reasonable and articulable suspicion requires more than corroboration of innocent details. Without verification of any other portion of the informant's tip, for all the police knew, Samuel Yarber was the victim of a malicious prank." Id. at 529. This holding is consistent with both federal and Illinois precedent. See e.g. United States v. Lopez, 907 F.3d 472, 482 (7th Cir. 2018) (when a tipster is unknown officers "must conduct and rely upon independent investigation to corroborate a tip before seizing a person."); People v. Lopez, 2018 IL App (1st) 153331 (App. Ct. 1st Dist. 2018) (insufficient corroboration of an anonymous tip)."
"The Yarber decision is controlling here. Here, Daugherty was linked to the account posting the threat by an anonymous tipster. The affidavit did not establish that the tipster was known to police or in any way reliable. To the contrary, they utilized a computer network designed by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory to ensure they could not be traced. Although police confirmed that the user posting the threat used Daugherty's name, likeness and call sign, this was all publicly available static information. As the court pointed out in Yarber, "without verification of any other portion of the informant's tip, for all the police knew, [Todd Daugherty] was the victim of a malicious prank." Yarber, 279 Ill.App.3d at at 529. The questionable value of the publicly available information in linking him to the account was further diminished by the affidavit's references to the fact that Daugherty told police he did not post on the site and was being "set up" by someone who was trying to have his ham radio license suspended by the FCC. The other information in the affidavit was merely gratuitous information about Daugherty's past conviction, for an unrelated threat on law enforcement and does nothing to establish a reliable link between him and the threatening post."
"The Device Warrant lacked probable cause because it was based on the statement of an anonymous informant whose credibility was completely uncorroborated by subsequent investigation. Instead, the warrant affidavit rests on the fact that a threatening online post contained publicly available information-Daugherty's name, ham radio signal, and a photograph."
"The affidavit in this case fails both prongs of Aguilar-Spinelli. Although the affidavit explained that the FBI received a tip, it did not establish that the individual who made that tip was a known or reliable informant. Instead, it merely stated that the "FBI Springfield office received a tip..." that it was Todd E. Daugherty. Furthermore, it did not establish the individual's basis of knowledge that the post was made by Todd Daugherty as opposed to someone using his name and information to impersonate him. For example, it did not state that the tipster was a website administrator who had access to log files showing the user's connection to Todd Daugherty. Nor did it state the tipster was a friend or acquaintance who overheard him discussing the post. Therefore, neither prong of Aguilar-Spinnelli was met."
"For similar reasons the Device Warrant fails the Gates "totality of circumstances" test. See Gates, 462 U.S. at 230. Neither probable cause nor reasonable suspicion can be based solely on an anonymous tip that merely provides the static details of a suspect's life along with an allegation of criminal conduct. See People v. Yarber, 279 Ill.App.3d 519, 529 (1996). This is true even when target has a prior criminal conviction. See id. at 523 (police confirmed Yarber's race, height, and weight through a criminal background check); see also United States v. Johnson, 427 F.3d 1053, 1057 (7th Cir. 2005)."
"In Florida v. J.L., an anonymous caller reported that a young black male was standing at a bus stop wearing a plaid shirt and carrying a gun. Florida v. J.L., 529 U.S. 266, 268 (2000). This anonymous tip was held to be insufficient even where police corroborated the location of the defendant and the type of clothing he was wearing. Id. at 272. This is because "[s]uch a tip...does not show that the tipster has knowledge of concealed criminal activity." Id. In Yarber, the fifth district extended that logic to a case where the anonymous tipster claimed that her best friends regularly bought cannabis from a man named Samuel Yarber and provided a physical description of Yarber, his address, and his place of employment. Yarber, 279 Ill.App.3d at 522. Police confirmed this information and stopped Yarber as he was leaving a train station. Id. at 521-522. However, the court found "reasonable and articulable suspicion requires more than corroboration of innocent details. Without verification of any other portion of the informant's tip, for all the police knew, Samuel Yarber was the victim of a malicious prank." Id. at 529. This holding is consistent with both federal and Illinois precedent. See e.g. United States v. Lopez, 907 F.3d 472, 482 (7th Cir. 2018) (when a tipster is unknown officers "must conduct and rely upon independent investigation to corroborate a tip before seizing a person."); People v. Lopez, 2018 IL App (1st) 153331 (App. Ct. 1st Dist. 2018) (insufficient corroboration of an anonymous tip)."
"The Yarber decision is controlling here. Here, Daugherty was linked to the account posting the threat by an anonymous tipster. The affidavit did not establish that the tipster was known to police or in any way reliable. To the contrary, they utilized a computer network designed by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory to ensure they could not be traced. Although police confirmed that the user posting the threat used Daugherty's name, likeness and call sign, this was all publicly available static information. As the court pointed out in Yarber, "without verification of any other portion of the informant's tip, for all the police knew, [Todd Daugherty] was the victim of a malicious prank." Yarber, 279 Ill.App.3d at at 529. The questionable value of the publicly available information in linking him to the account was further diminished by the affidavit's references to the fact that Daugherty told police he did not post on the site and was being "set up" by someone who was trying to have his ham radio license suspended by the FCC. The other information in the affidavit was merely gratuitous information about Daugherty's past conviction, for an unrelated threat on law enforcement and does nothing to establish a reliable link between him and the threatening post."