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Recent Posts
- FL1: Violation of state knock-and-announce statute requires suppression; Hudson not followed
- N.D.Ala.: All parts of a SW are read in context, and that narrows it so it’s not overbroad
- WA: No immediate bail for DV arrest violates neither 4A nor due process
- S.D.N.Y.: Overseas seizure of Russian oligarch’s megayacht not governed by 4A
- CA7: No IAC in failure to more aggressively pursue Franks challenge
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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2017); ABA Journal Blawg 100 (2015-16) (discontinued 2018)
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by John Wesley Hall
Criminal Defense Lawyer and
Search and seizure law consultant
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: forhall @ aol.com / The Book
www.johnwesleyhall.com -
© 2003-24,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 425,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 45,000 posts since 2003 (26,730+ on WordPress as of 12/31/23) -
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Fourth Amendment cases,
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--Electronic Communications Privacy Act (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) -
“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 -
"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] -
“You know, most men would get discouraged by now. Fortunately for you, I am not most men!”
---Pepé Le Pew "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)
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Category Archives: Warrant execution
OH3: Invalid admin SW was saved by GFE
An administrative search warrant issued under the state criminal procedure law was invalid because of limits on who could request and serve a warrant (i.e., law enforcement officers and prosecutors). However, the good faith exception applies to administrative warrants, too. … Continue reading
N.D.Cal.: “A small constitutional violation is no less a constitutional violation” here a cell phone search that is suppressed
The government attempted to access defendant’s cell phone in the jurisdiction but couldn’t. It sent it to Quantico for a “brute force” password attempt that could involve 1,000,000 combinations with waiting periods defined by the software they installed. Some brute … Continue reading
CAAF: The methodology of a search doesn’t have to be the best to still be reasonable
A flashing incident on a Marine base in December 2018 led to a search authorization of defendant’s cell phone. The images on the phone were first sorted by size instead of date, and that led to accidentally discovering an apparent … Continue reading
CA4: “[T]he ability to execute a search does not necessarily imply power to execute a search warrant.”
“[T]he ability to execute a search does not necessarily imply power to execute a search warrant.” Osmon v. United States, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 9177 (4th Cir. Apr. 18, 2023). Defendant’s Franks motion fails because there’s no offer of proof … Continue reading
E.D.Pa.: Homeowner can be handcuffed during home search without his being arrested
Having the homeowner in handcuffs during a search of his house and then releasing him when done is reasonable under Michigan v. Summers. Armstrong v. Gretsky, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 63028 (E.D. Pa. Apr. 11, 2023). Defendant parolee tried to … Continue reading
D.Minn.: Def didn’t show prejudice or unreasonableness from execution of SW before 6 am
Even if the search warrant was executed here before 6 a.m., defendant doesn’t show any prejudice by that. A cell phone is not exigency in itself, but here there was at least some risk of destruction of evidence because defendant … Continue reading
OH7: Officer seeing sawed-off shotgun in car door justified questions under Quarles
Defendant was stopped and got out of his car, and in the door was a sawed off shotgun. Questions about the gun next to him were legitimate under Quarles. State v. Anderson, 2023-Ohio-945, 2023 Ohio App. LEXIS 922 (7th Dist. … Continue reading
TX: Totality of circumstances applies to exigency on warrantless seizure of cell phone
“Rather than announcing a categorical rule that police may never seize personal property simply because a criminal suspect knows he is a suspect, the court of appeals should have analyzed under the totality of the circumstances whether law enforcement’s seizure … Continue reading
KARE 11: Bungled raid led to innocent pregnant woman’s shackling
KARE 11 Investigates: Bungled raid led to innocent pregnant woman’s shackling (“Taxpayers are on the hook for $500,000 after a detective’s misconduct led to a woman’s arrest and Hennepin County jailers illegally shackling her while in labor.”)
W.D.N.Y.: 108-day delay in SW for cell phone was unreasonable
An unreasonable 108-day delay in retrieving defendant’s cell phone from local police after the DEA adopted the case required suppression of the search of the phone. United States v. Adams, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23973 (W.D.N.Y. Feb. 13, 2023). Officers … Continue reading
E.D.Va.: No 4A right to notice before a search occurs; state search law inapplicable in federal court
Defendant’s Fourth Amendment claim is that he was given no notice that his phones had been searched, citing Virginia law, which is irrelevant in a federal prosecution, even though state officials did all the searching. There’s no constitutional right to … Continue reading
Galveston Co. Daily News: Galveston SWAT team wrecks wrong house in search for wrong suspect
The Galveston Co. Daily News: Galveston SWAT team wrecks wrong house in search for wrong suspect by Trace Harris:
CA3: Going from home to a drug deal is nexus to the home
“Contrary to Torres’ arguments, when an individual is suspected of dealing narcotics, probable cause to search his home does not demand a showing that he deals those narcotics at his home. The common-sense likelihood that drug dealers keep evidence of … Continue reading
KY: Defs showed enough to get a post-conviction hearing officers planted drugs they pled guilty to
Defendants moved to vacate guilty pleas for drug possession after the officers involved were federally indicted for planting drugs on suspects. The trial court denied without a hearing because of the guilty pleas. The CoA reversed and ordered a hearing. … Continue reading
WaPo: Police misused Find My app before raiding 77-year-old’s home, ACLU says
WaPo: Police misused Find My app before raiding 77-year-old’s home, ACLU says by María Luisa Paúl:
CA4: Video showed district court’s findings of reasonableness clearly erroneous
The video of this stop contradicted the district court’s findings, and the motion to suppress should have been granted. “Here, however, the video evidence does not support some of Officer Helms’s statements and impressions. As we explain, the district court … Continue reading
CA2: Not unreasonable here to use flashbang device in execution of SW
Defense counsel was not ineffective for not challenging the use of a flashbang device in execution of the search warrant at defendant’s home. The Fourth Amendment does not usually require limits on how the warrant should be executed. Here, it … Continue reading
E.D.N.Y.: Battering down door at dawn in CP SW wasn’t unreasonable, even if uncalled for
SWAT team entry into defendant’s Queens home at dawn for child pornography on a computer was not unreasonable. The police knew that only defendant, his wife, and their children (the children were “Potential Hazards” according to their operational plan) were … Continue reading
E.D.Ky.: Def shows nothing to support claim taint team violated attorney-client privilege in review after SW
Defendant argued that the execution of this search warrant resulted in disclosure of attorney-client privileged information because of alleged misuse of a taint team. But, he provides no context or anything to go on. Taint teams are recognized in such … Continue reading
C.D.Cal.: SWAT team raid damage to house included in insurance coverage
Plaintiff’s claim against defendant insurance company for failing to pay an insurance claim for damage during a SWAT team raid on his house goes forward. The policy’s exclusionary clauses are overbroad under California law. Heard v. QBE Ins. Corp., 2022 … Continue reading