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- Was in jury trial this week
- LATimes: Ex-L.A. County sheriff’s deputy gets prison time for using search warrant for a private client
- Privacy Daily: Chatrie’s Clarification to Fourth Amendment a Win for Privacy, Experts Say
- D.Alaska: Def’s half hour detention was without RS
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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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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)
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"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
TX8 sustains geofence warrant
TX8, El Paso without much discussion sustains a geofence warrant. Also the warrants for the phone and social media accounts were issued with probable cause and were particular. Alvarez v. State, 2025 Tex. App. LEXIS 6106 (Tex. App. – El … Continue reading
CA8: Running when asked about a gun was RS
“Running in response to the question about the gun is what gave the officers reasonable suspicion to think he might have one.” Then he tossed his gun “while tussling with officers.” United States v. Chumley, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 20497 … Continue reading
W.D.N.Y.: No exigency shown for warrantless domestic entry
Based on the complaint, there were no exigent circumstances justifying the warrantless entry into the home for a domestic disturbance that had calmed way down before police got there. Intertwined is the qualified immunity claim, and there’s not enough here … Continue reading
N.D.Ill.: A mistake on the address was made up for by other detail; no Franks violation
“To the extent the lack of an address lessens a warrant’s particularity, the other information more than makes up for it. … In this case, Walters highlights one factual error: No glass door bearing the numbers ‘13624’ existed when the … Continue reading
S.D.W.Va.: RS determined at the time of stop, not by what found after
A “black man with a waving a gun” did not justify defendant’s stop. When officers arrived, he was just there. No gun visible or apparent. Reasonable suspicion is determined at the time, not after the fact. United States v. Wilder, … Continue reading
D.C.Cir.: Pole camera not governed by mosaic theory
Pole camera surveillance of a resident was reasonable and the mosaic theory did not apply. United States v. Green, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 20410 (D.C. Cir. Aug. 12, 2025):
Latin Times: Trump Administration Pushes to Use Spanish Language as Grounds for Immigration Stops
Latin Times: Trump Administration Pushes to Use Spanish Language as Grounds for Immigration Stops in California by Pedro Camacho (“The administration argued that agents should be able to rely on these indicators when enforcing immigration laws.”) I had an associate … Continue reading
MI: Two controlled buys where def left house to do it and returned was PC for house
The informant’s information here [to me] was conclusorily stated by the officer to be reliable [not discussed], except there were also two controlled buys from the defendant where he left his place and returned. [The latter is enough.] People v. … Continue reading
Four on IAC claims
Appellant doesn’t get a CoA on his claim he could have appealed the denial of the suppression motion despite the guilty plea. United States v. Penton, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 20172 (5th Cir. Aug. 7, 2025).* “Thus, Loston’s claim fails … Continue reading
SCOTUSBlog: Trump administration urges Supreme Court to block district court ruling preventing immigration stops
Amy Howe: Trump administration urges Supreme Court to block district court ruling preventing immigration stops (SCOTUSBlog Aug. 7), Noem v. Perdomo, 25A169. The stay application is here. The response is due August 12th, 5 pm. Note: This is an application … Continue reading
CA11: SW for 15 years worth of records was still particular
The warrant for records was particular, albeit for 15 years worth of bank records, but it matched the time period under investigation, 1/1/05-11/11/19. And the good faith exception applies. United States v. Gyetvay, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 20080 (11th Cir. … Continue reading
OH2: State didn’t support basis for stop; remanded
Poorly developed record by the state results in remand. The state didn’t support its basis for the stop. State v. Scerba, 2025-Ohio-2791 (2d Dist. Aug. 8, 2025). Remember, in warrantless searches, the prosecution carries the burden of proof:
TX7: Odor of MJ is PC; that’s TX precedent, and out of state cases don’t carry any weight
The odor of cannabis is still probable cause in Texas. “Emerging case law” in other states doesn’t matter because of Texas precedent. Parras v. State, 2025 Tex. App. LEXIS 5954 (Tex. App. – Amarillo Aug. 8, 2025). Defendant had no … Continue reading
CNS: Office manager of Kansas newspaper raided by police settles lawsuit with town
CNS: Office manager of Kansas newspaper raided by police settles lawsuit with town by Hilled Aron (“The office manager of the Marion County Record, a Kansas weekly newspaper whose offices were raided by police, has settled her lawsuit with the … Continue reading
CA7: Omission of snitch’s criminal history wasn’t material compared to the detail
Omission of the CI’s criminal history and that he was already in trouble with the law wasn’t material here for Franks purposes. The detail overcame it. United States v. Hecke, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 19836 (7th Cir. Aug. 6, 2025):
NC: Nine-day delay between shooting and SW for gun wasn’t stale
A nine-day delay between a shooting and the search warrant for defendant’s place to look for the weapon wasn’t stale. The standard for timeliness is simply common sense. State v. Stevens, 2025 N.C. App. LEXIS 489 (Aug. 6, 2025).* A … Continue reading
E.D.N.C.: Not asking for hearing on motion to suppress not IAC
2255 petitioner faults his lawyer for not asking for a hearing on his motion to suppress, which lost, but he doesn’t show that it mattered. Moreover, this is really just taking a shot at recharacterizing the motion to suppress, but … Continue reading
UT: State’s use of federal administrative subpoena to gather records for state sex crime does not require suppression
Getting the feds to administratively subpoena records for a sex offense involving a minor allegedly in violation of the Utah Electronic or Data Privacy Act (EIDPA) didn’t require suppression. State v. Andrus, 2025 UT 32 (Aug. 7, 2025):
CA4: Dog sniff at apt. door here violated no REP
A dog sniff at defendant’s apartment door in a multi-unit complex didn’t violate any reasonable expectation of privacy. (Two unpublished cases in this circuit said that; this one’s published.) United States v. Johnson, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 19648 (4th Cir. … Continue reading
CA5: “Fill in the blanks” arrest affidavit still showed PC
The “fill in the blanks” arrest affidavit for the Waco Twin Peaks biker shootout wasn’t fatally defective. What facts it had showed probable cause. Barnhart v. Stroman, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 19740 (5th Cir. Aug. 5, 2025). Based on a … Continue reading