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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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Congressional Research Service:
--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
D.Md.: Covid helped explain the delay in SW for cell phone search
This cell phone was reasonably seized under a warrant. The second warrant was issued a few weeks later, but, because of covid, the delay was reasonable. United States v. Reaves, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43243 (D.Md. Mar. 9, 2022). “Defendant … Continue reading
NY Co.: Failure to execute SW in ten days voids it
The search warrant wasn’t executed within 10 days as required by statute where it had to be returned to the court if not. Suppressed. People v. Tonner, 2022 NY Slip Op 50175(U), 2022 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 833 (N.Y. Co. Feb. … Continue reading
N.D.Ill.: Part of this search of the wrong house under a SW dismissed
The target of this search had moved, so this was the search of the wrong house. Among a host of issues, service of an alleged illegible warrant is governed by qualified immunity. It was signed by a judge. The warrant … Continue reading
TN: Smell of drugs during execution of SW permits detaining occupants
Based on the smell of drugs when executing a search warrant, the officers had the authority to detain the occupants. Linsey v. State, 2022 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 79 (Feb. 25, 2022). Defendant’s stop was reasonable. Shots had been reported … Continue reading
D.Nev.: SW clearly did not authorize downloading of iPhone and iPad at the place of search; no good faith exception
The officer thought the warrant authorized downloading on the premises, but it obviously did not. This is gross negligence, and the good faith exception does not apply. Defendant wasn’t in custody and was not entitled to a Miranda warning when … Continue reading
W.D.Pa.: SW for what turned out to be multiunit apts is suppressed, and no GFE
The multi-unit character of the property being searched under a warrant wasn’t immediately apparent to the officers, or so they said. The court doesn’t credit that because they knew defendant was in “apartment 3” on the third floor. Post-search follow-up … Continue reading
M.D.Fla.: GFE applies to warrant execution issues
Officers had a search warrant for the premises of a house, and an outbuilding off the curtilage was searched, too. “Defendant next argues that the officers exceeded the scope of the search warrant because the converted shed was outside of … Continue reading
CA7: Officers not liable for search of wrong apartment in reliance on SW description
In a § 1983 case over a search of the wrong apartment, the affidavit for the search warrant could be relied upon in good faith. The mistake was negligent at best, and it didn’t support civil liability here. The officers … Continue reading
CA1: GFE applies to warrant execution issues
The First Circuit makes clear that the good faith exception applies to warrant execution issues despite Leon’s statement it should not. (Not the first court to hold this.) United States v. Pimentel, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 4350 (1st Cir. Feb. … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: A reasonably conducted eviction is not a 4A violation
“Most eviction-type seizures do not violate the Fourth Amendment. Thomas v. Cohen, 304 F.3d 563, 574 (6th Cir. 2002) (citing Soldal v. Cook County, 506 U.S. 56, 71, 113 S. Ct. 538, 121 L. Ed. 2d 450 (1992)). Seizing an … Continue reading
W.D.Va.: Def’s resisting execution of a SW was a factor in finding dangerousness to deny release pending trial
Defendant’s resisting his arrest, including a search warrant, was a factor in denying release pending trial. United States v. Wagoner, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25232 (W.D.Va. Feb. 11, 2022). Questions of fact exist on whether plaintiff’s forced digital rectal exam … Continue reading
AP: Man whose home was bombed by police holds off on rebuilding
AP: Man whose home was bombed by police holds off on rebuilding:
HI: When valid SW executed, no 5A taking involved
When a valid search warrant is executed, there is no Fifth Amendment taking. Young v. Haw. Island Humane Soc’y S.P.C.A., 2022 Haw. App. LEXIS 21 (Feb. 9, 2022) (unpublished). “Here, the totality of the circumstances then appearing to the officers … Continue reading
D.Idaho: USMs at EPA execution of administrative SW not unreasonable
The presence of U.S. Marshals helping execute an EPA administrative warrant did not make the search unreasonable. Ace Black Ranches v. United States EPA, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22284 (D.Idaho Feb. 4, 2022). Decedent’s shooting during an apparent child kidnapping … Continue reading
OK: Lawyer’s telephone call seeking arrest of officers for trespass while they were executing SW results in disciplinary action
Respondent in this disciplinary action is a criminal defense lawyer. A client’s house was subjected to a search under a warrant. Once told, he got to the scene during the search and sought a copy of it, but he was … Continue reading
Reason: A SWAT Team Wrongfully Raided Her Home. Now Cops Say Footage From the Raid Is Private Since No One Was Killed.
Reason: A SWAT Team Wrongfully Raided Her Home. Now Cops Say Footage From the Raid Is Private Since No One Was Killed, by Elizabeth Nolan Brown (“In May 2020, a SWAT team burst into the Raleigh, North Carolina, home that … Continue reading
CA5: 17-day delay of package for investigation and SW was still reasonable
This 17-day delay in holding a package for investigation and developing probable cause for a search warrant was not unreasonable. There was reasonable suspicion for the initial detention, and, despite the delay, it was still reasonable. United States v. Martinez, … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: 6 day delay in getting SW for seized cell phones not unreasonable
There was a six day delay between seizure of six cell phones and issuance of a search warrant for them. This was reasonable under CA11 precedent. Moreover, the good faith exception applies. United States v. Norwood, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading
AL: SW for premises permitted search of visitor found asleep with at least some known connection to the premises
Police executed a search warrant for a house for methamphetamine. Defendant didn’t live there, but she was named in the affidavit as a frequent visitor, and she was asleep on the couch when the police came in. After getting her … Continue reading