Archives
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Recent Posts
- C.D.Cal.: A Gerstein/McLaughlin violation for delayed first appearance requires a showing of prejudice
- CA11: Franks motion properly denied for lack of an offer of proof
- Cal.L.Rev.: Your Robotaxi Is Watching You. Does the Fourth Amendment Care?
- D.Alaska: With a SW for a cell phone, officers should ask, not make, def to open the phone with his finger
- CA2: Statement there was CP on computer was PC to seize it for a SW
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Feedspot’s Best Legal Blogs and Websites 2023-2026,
also, firm website Top 90 Criminal Law Blogs 2026 -
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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2015-17) (then discontinued)
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by John Wesley Hall
Criminal Defense Lawyer and
Search and seizure law consultant
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: forhall @ aol.com
Search and Seizure (6th ed. 2025)
www.johnwesleyhall.com -
© 2003-26,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 600,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 50,000 posts since 2003 (29,000 on WordPress as of 12/31/25) -
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Fourth Amendment cases, citations, and links -
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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
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General (many free):
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F.R.Crim.P. 41
www.fd.org
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
DEA Agents Manual (2002) (download)
DOJ Computer Search Manual (2009) (pdf)
Stringrays (ACLU No. Cal.) (pdf)
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Congressional Research Service:
--Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
--Overview of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
--Outline of Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping (2012)
--Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping (2012)
--Federal Laws Relating to Cybersecurity: Discussion of Proposed Revisions (2012)
ACLU on privacy
Privacy Foundation
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NACDL’s Domestic Drone Information Center
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Criminal Appeal (post-conviction) (9th Cir.)
Section 1983 Blog -
"If it was easy, everybody would be doing it. It isn't, and they don't."
—Me -
"Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but of playing a poor hand well."
–Josh Billings (pseudonym of Henry Wheeler Shaw), Josh Billings on Ice, and Other Things (1868) (erroneously attributed to Robert Louis Stevenson, among others) -
“I am still learning.”
—Domenico Giuntalodi (but misattributed to Michelangelo Buonarroti (common phrase throughout 1500's)). -
"Love work; hate mastery over others; and avoid intimacy with the government."
—Shemaya, in the Thalmud -
"It is a pleasant world we live in, sir, a very pleasant world. There are bad people in it, Mr. Richard, but if there were no bad people, there would be no good lawyers."
—Charles Dickens, “The Old Curiosity Shop ... With a Frontispiece. From a Painting by Geo. Cattermole, Etc.” 255 (1848) -
"A system of law that not only makes certain conduct criminal, but also lays down rules for the conduct of the authorities, often becomes complex in its application to individual cases, and will from time to time produce imperfect results, especially if one's attention is confined to the particular case at bar. Some criminals do go free because of the necessity of keeping government and its servants in their place. That is one of the costs of having and enforcing a Bill of Rights. This country is built on the assumption that the cost is worth paying, and that in the long run we are all both freer and safer if the Constitution is strictly enforced."
—Williams v. Nix, 700 F. 2d 1164, 1173 (8th Cir. 1983) (Richard Sheppard Arnold, J.), rev'd Nix v. Williams, 467 US. 431 (1984). -
"The criminal goes free, if he must, but it is the law that sets him free. Nothing can destroy a government more quickly than its failure to observe its own laws, or worse, its disregard of the charter of its own existence."
—Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643, 659 (1961). -
"Any costs the exclusionary rule are costs imposed directly by the Fourth Amendment."
—Yale Kamisar, 86 Mich.L.Rev. 1, 36 n. 151 (1987). -
"There have been powerful hydraulic pressures throughout our history that bear heavily on the Court to water down constitutional guarantees and give the police the upper hand. That hydraulic pressure has probably never been greater than it is today."
— Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 39 (1968) (Douglas, J., dissenting). -
"The great end, for which men entered into society, was to secure their property."
—Entick v. Carrington, 19 How.St.Tr. 1029, 1066, 95 Eng. Rep. 807 (C.P. 1765) -
"It is a fair summary of history to say that the safeguards of liberty have frequently been forged in controversies involving not very nice people. And so, while we are concerned here with a shabby defrauder, we must deal with his case in the context of what are really the great themes expressed by the Fourth Amendment."
—United States v. Rabinowitz, 339 U.S. 56, 69 (1950) (Frankfurter, J., dissenting) -
"The course of true law pertaining to searches and seizures, as enunciated here, has not–to put it mildly–run smooth."
—Chapman v. United States, 365 U.S. 610, 618 (1961) (Frankfurter, J., concurring). -
"A search is a search, even if it happens to disclose nothing but the bottom of a turntable."
—Arizona v. Hicks, 480 U.S. 321, 325 (1987) -
"For the Fourth Amendment protects people, not places. What a person knowingly exposes to the public, even in his own home or office, is not a subject of Fourth Amendment protection. ... But what he seeks to preserve as private, even in an area accessible to the public, may be constitutionally protected."
—Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 351 (1967) -
“Experience should teach us to be most on guard to protect liberty when the Government’s purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded
rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.”
—United States v. Olmstead, 277 U.S. 438, 479 (1925) (Brandeis, J., dissenting)
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“Liberty—the freedom from unwarranted intrusion by government—is as easily lost through insistent nibbles by government officials who seek to do their jobs too well as by those whose purpose it is to oppress; the piranha can be as deadly as the shark.”
—United States v. $124,570, 873 F.2d 1240, 1246 (9th Cir. 1989) -
"You can't always get what you want / But if you try sometimes / You just might find / You get what you need."
—Mick Jagger & Keith Richards, Let it Bleed (album, 1969) -
"In Germany, they first came for the communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for
the Catholics and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Catholic. Then they came
for me–and by that time there was nobody left to speak up."
—Martin Niemöller (1945) [he served seven years in a concentration camp] -
“Children grow up thinking the adult world is ordered, rational, fit for purpose. It’s crap. Becoming a man is realising that it’s all rotten. Realising how to celebrate that rottenness, that’s freedom.”
– John le Carré, The Night Manager (1993), line by Richard Roper -
"The point of the Fourth Amendment, which often is not grasped by zealous officers, is not that it denies law enforcement the support of the usual inferences which reasonable men draw from evidence. Its protection consists in requiring that those inferences be drawn by a neutral and detached magistrate instead of being judged by the officer engaged in the often competitive enterprise of ferreting out crime."
—Johnson v. United States, 333 U.S. 10, 13-14 (1948) -
The book was dedicated in the first (1982) and sixth (2025) editions to Justin William Hall (1975-2025). He was three when this project started in 1978.
Website design by Wally Waller, Colorado Springs. 
Author Archives: Hall
WI: Impoundment of car because def was merely ticketed for not having a valid license was unreasonable
Defendant was stopped for speeding, and he was found without a license. The police didn’t arrest him, just ticketed him. Impounding his car and inventorying it was unreasonable under the circumstances, and this was not a reasonable exercise of the … Continue reading
CA2: Second Tasing of nonresisting detainee was unreasonable
On this record, the second Tasing of plaintiff could be found unreasonable for lack of resistance, which the jury did. Jones v. Treubig, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 19883 (2d Cir. June 26, 2020). The search under defendant’s consent for “firearms/evidence” … Continue reading
CA9: Not precisely following CHP inventory policy doesn’t make it unreasonable
Not precisely following CHP policy in filing out the inventory papers didn’t per se make the inventory search unreasonable. United States v. Magdirila, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 19477 (9th Cir. June 23, 2020). The community caretaking function of police permitted … Continue reading
S.D.Ohio: Collective knowledge applies to traffic stops
The collective knowledge doctrine applies to traffic stops. United States v. Murray, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111040 (S.D. Ohio June 24, 2020). “Applying this [deferential] standard of review to the warrant application, the Court has reviewed the application and finds … Continue reading
MA: No right to counsel at execution of SW
“The defendant has presented no case law supporting his proposition that the target of a search warrant has a right to have counsel present during the execution of a warrant. The officers executed a warrant to search the defendant’s cell … Continue reading
E.D.Ky.: Objection to USMJ’s findings must specifically challenge 4A rationale
“Defendant’s objections do not address the Magistrate’s analysis or conclusions regarding Grounds 11 and 15. Instead, Defendant vaguely asserts that his counsel should have challenged the ‘validity of [the] evidence[.]’ (DE 406 at 7.) Defendant provides no basis to challenge … Continue reading
NY1: Seizure for forfeiture fails for lack of notice to owner
The city failed in its burden of proof for seizure for forfeiture that the owner was aware. Matter of Smith v. City of New York, 2020 NY Slip Op 03600, 2020 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3687 (1st Dept. June 25, … Continue reading
AZ: Challenging neutral and detached magistrate requires showing “systemic or patent partiality”
“In the appeal, Macias argued against the application of the good-faith exception, claiming that the magistrate’s conduct showed he had abandoned impartiality or was unable to act in a neutral and detached manner. … However, to warrant exclusion of the … Continue reading
Cal.1: Despite the pandemic, arrestees are entitled to a prompt judicial determination of PC
Despite the pandemic and court closures, arrestees are entitled to a prompt judicial determination of probable cause under Gerstein. Bullock v. Superior Court, 2020 Cal. App. LEXIS 575 (1st Dist. June 24, 2020). During a search of defendant’s house under … Continue reading
D.Minn.: Collective knowledge doctrine doesn’t require affiant officer to independently corroborate
The affidavit for the search warrant here was adequate to show nexus and probable cause for a search. The reliance on other officers’ information didn’t require this officer to independently corroborate it. United States v. Velazquez, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading
IL: Arguing only lack of arrest warrant waives lack of PC
Pleading and litigating a motion to suppress in the trial court that the officers lacked an arrest warrant or an exception waived his appellate claim of a lack of probable cause. People v. Montes, 2020 IL App (2d) 180565, 2020 … Continue reading
AP: Michigan voters to decide on data protections in November election
AP: Michigan voters to decide on data protections in November election (“A state constitutional amendment to designate electronic communication and data as personal property has made it onto the November ballot. If passed, the amendment would put the same protections … Continue reading
CA5: Expert opinion on reasonableness in 1983 case improper
“We first find that the district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding portions of testimony from two of Albert’s expert witnesses—Richard Lichten, a police-procedure expert, and Dr. Kris Sperry, the former Chief Medical Examiner for the State of … Continue reading
HI: Knock-and-announce for 25 seconds at 6:15 am before forced entry unreasonable
Under the state constitution, police knocks on the door for 25 seconds in the early morning before forcibly entering after even hearing the homeowner call out was not a reasonable amount of time to respond, and this warranted suppression of … Continue reading
D.Minn.: Is changing cell phone settings before SW issued a search? SW moots that issue
The court does not have to decide whether changing the settings on defendant’s cell phone prior to obtaining a search warrant for it was a search. The later issuance of a search warrant for the phone moots that point because … Continue reading
NPR: WBUR: Boston Bans Use Of Facial Recognition Technology.
NPR: WBUR: Boston Bans Use Of Facial Recognition Technology. It’s The 2nd-Largest City To Do So (“Boston has banned the use of facial surveillance technology in the city, becoming the second-largest community in the world to do so.”)
OH10: When def subjected to two SWs, only arguing first waives second
Where defendant was subjected to two search warrants and he only argued the first to the trial court, the second was waived for appeal. State v. Wilkins, 2020-Ohio-3428, 2020 Ohio App. LEXIS 2359 (10th Dist. June 23, 2020). “A finding … Continue reading
CA8: Def didn’t show standing in rental car with blank rental agreement
Defendant’s possession of a blank rental agreement fell short of showing his standing to challenge the search of the car he was driving. Defendant has to go forward on standing somehow, and Byrd doesn’t say how. United States v. White, … Continue reading
NY2: Arrest for burglary justifies SI of backpack
Defendant’s arrest for burglary, a violent crime, and his uncooperativeness justified a search incident of his backpack for possible weapons. People v. Mabry, 2020 NY Slip Op 03540, 2020 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3583 (2d Dept. June 24, 2020). There … Continue reading