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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 -
© 2003-25,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 500,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 47,000 posts since 2003 (30,000+ on WordPress as of 12/31/24) -
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Fourth Amendment cases,
citations, and links -
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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
Research Links:
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General (many free):
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www.fd.org
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
DEA Agents Manual (2002) (download)
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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
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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, 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] -
“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) -
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, Little Rock 
Category Archives: Probable cause
W.D.Ky.: “Both the issuing judge and the reviewing court should take a totality of the circumstances approach in their review of the affidavit, rather than scrutinize the affidavit line-by-line.”
“Both the issuing judge and the reviewing court should take a totality of the circumstances approach in their review of the affidavit, rather than scrutinize the affidavit line-by-line.” A generalized allegation of “errors” is insufficient to get a Franks hearing. … Continue reading
W.D.Wis.: Officers had a reasonable belief under Payton def was on the premises for execution of an arrest warrant
Based on surveillance, officers had a reasonable belief, even probable cause, to believe that defendant was in the house when they came with an arrest warrant. United States v. Burgess, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 157755 (W.D. Wis. Aug. 12, 2019),* … Continue reading
SD: There was reason for def’s stop, but no PC for search of the car
There was reason for defendant’s stop and reasonable suspicion developed from excessive nervousness and a masking agent, but there was no probable cause and exigency for a search of defendant’s car. State v. Terry, 2019 Del. Super. LEXIS 431 (Sept. … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Army CID did not violate Posse Comitatus Act by watching CP investigation at West Point
A West Point cadet was the target of a child pornography investigation. HSI investigated it, and the Army CID didn’t violate the Posse Comitatus Act in being there but not doing anything. Hester v. United States, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading
D.Nev.: Criminal history didn’t justify extending stop
Officers exceeded the bounds of the traffic stop because they heard defendant’s criminal history and then ordered him out of the car to seek consent to search without any reasonable suspicion. United States v. Coleman, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 152832 … Continue reading
W.D.Ky.: PC for search and arrest may be the same
The probable cause for the search of defendant’s car also provided probable cause for his arrest. United States v. Bell, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 154275 (W.D. Ky. Aug. 2, 2019).* Defendant consented to a limited search of his computer and … Continue reading
MD: Traffic enforcement saturation for seat belt stops wasn’t a checkpoint
A traffic enforcement saturation to stop people only without seat belts on was founded on reasonable suspicion and wasn’t a checkpoint. Johnson v. State, 2019 Md. App. LEXIS 783 (Sept. 9, 2019).* Defendant was stopped for a traffic offense, and … Continue reading
N.D.Ala.: Officer doesn’t have to tell a motorist he smells MJ in the car
The officer recognized defendant as having an arrest warrant on him. When the stop occurred, the officer smelled marijuana and that justified a search of the car. The fact the officer didn’t mention to defendant that he smelled marijuana isn’t … Continue reading
MO: Search incident of item taken off def’s person could happen 30 min after arrest
Defense counsel wasn’t ineffective for not moving to suppress the search of a cigarette pack removed from defendant’s person at the time of his arrest but searched 30 minutes later. It was still subject to the search incident doctrine. Greene … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Affidavit for SW was “bare bones” so no GFE; Brandeis quoted
The affidavit for the search warrant for defendant’s home proved to be “bare bones” and showed no probable cause or nexus to crime whatsoever. Accordingly, the good faith exception doesn’t even apply. The court cites Brandeis’s 1928 Olmstead dissent. United … Continue reading
DE: DNA warrant fails because affidavit for it does show how or why it could be found
“As previously noted, this Court must pay great deference to a magistrate’s determination of probable cause and must take a common-sense approach rather than a hyper-technical approach. Nonetheless, given the totality of the circumstances set forth in the Affidavit, including … Continue reading
S.D.Ind.: Border search of ESI led to def being released then SW for house month later
After a border search of electronic media finding some probable child pornography, officers let defendant go, then showed up at his house a month later with a search warrant and found more. United States v. Skaggs, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading
CA9: Detaining juveniles five hours after PC dissipated was unreasonable and contrary to well-established law
“It is well-established that a ‘person may not be arrested, or must be released from arrest, if previously established probable cause has dissipated.’ United States v. Ortiz-Hernandez, 427 F.3d 567, 574 (9th Cir. 2005) (per curiam). ‘As a corollary … … Continue reading
NC: Police exceeded private search of thumb drive, and it’s suppressed
Defendant’s wife opened a thumb drive in defendant’s briefcase looking for pictures of herself and his housekeeper when he was overseas. She found a picture of her daughter asleep unclothed from the waist up, and took it to the police … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: Def’s removal for questioning and 8 hour detention could’t be justified under Summers
Defendant’s handcuffing and removal to the police station for interrogation could not be justified by Summers and was without probable cause. He was held eight hours and interrogated. United States v. Mitchell, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139026 (N.D. Ga. June … Continue reading
D.Mass.: Transit worker in safety sensitive position could be drug tested for an “incident” short of an “accident”
The Boston MTA did not violate the Fourth Amendment by requiring a drug test of an employee involved in an “incident” short of an “accident.” The employee was in a safety sensitive position. Cabral v. Mass. Bay Transp. Auth., Boston … Continue reading
E.D.Pa.: Information from a Sept. ’17 SW made it into Oct. ’18 SW affidavit and it wasn’t stale becuase of ongoing nature
Defendant’s property had been searched in September 2017. Information from that made it to a search warrant issued in October 2018, and it wasn’t stale because of the ongoing nature of the facts. United States v. Harmon, 2019 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading
CA4: Single click on a CP website’s URL is PC for the clicker’s computer
A single click on a URL on a website devoted to child pornography is probable cause for a search warrant for defendant’s computer. United States v. Bosyk, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 22973 (4th Cir. Aug. 1, 2019):
W.D.Ark.: The “traffic stop” was actually a PC stop for drugs
This was not even a traffic stop, although it appeared one to the defendant. Actually, it was based on a CI’s information involving drugs and was with probable cause, so the extension of the stop with reasonable suspicion didn’t even … Continue reading