Appeals court finds FBI did violate rights of some Beverly Hills safe-deposit box holders

[Demovictory9]

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-01-23/appeals-court-finds-fbi-did-violate-rights-of-some-beverly-hills-safe-deposit-box-holders

The ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reverses a lower court decision in favor of the FBI. The panel found that the agency’s cataloging of the contents of the privately rented boxes, without individual criminal warrants for each, violated the box holders’ 4th Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures.

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The ruling is the latest twist in an unprecedented case that has attracted national attention for several reasons, including the scope of the assets involved — tens of millions of dollars in cash and other valuables — and the location of the raided vault in one of the toniest neighborhoods in America.

The case had also attracted attention because of the FBI’s initial decision to open and review the contents of all of the boxes and seize any assets worth more than $5,000. Attorneys for the box holders said such a move by the FBI would set a dangerous precedent — and embolden more raids of a similar nature in the future — if the courts allowed it to stand.

Box holders and their attorneys cheered the decision Tuesday, which they said places important constraints on FBI searches in the future.

Among those celebrating were lead plaintiffs Paul and Jennifer Snitko, an aeronautics engineer and entertainment attorney who said they had placed family heirlooms, important legal documents such as wills and other sentimental items in a box at the U.S. Private Vaults store on Olympic Boulevard after fires had repeatedly forced them to evacuate their Pacific Palisades home with little warning.