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- VA: Search incident between def’s shorts and underwear was reasonable
- Reason: Border Cops Seize Nurse’s Phone Filled With Psychiatric Patient Information
- MI: Handcuffing uncooperative def at scene of accident wasn’t unreasonable
- S.D.Ga.: Def’s car in driveway next to sidewalk was not on curtilage
- S.D.Ind.: Post search database search of occupants of a place didn’t show SW affidavit was false at time it issued
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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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FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
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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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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. 
Category Archives: Franks doctrine
NJ: Race and being ¾ mile from a robbery not RS
Defendants were stopped in a car ¾ of a mile and driving away from the scene of a 7-11 robbery. All the officer knew was there were two black males involved. In their car, there were three black males. That … Continue reading
D.Neb.: Mid-trial Franks motion based on testimony still fails
Defendant filed and lost a Franks motion. He renewed it mid-trial after testimony. This one fares no better. It’s based on a claim defense counsel should have interviewed the witness earlier for the Franks motion, but all this is speculative. … Continue reading
W.D.Tex.: Writ of error coram nobis not a remedy nor timely for evidentiary claim in 2013 suppression hearing
Defendant’s petition for writ of error coram nobis is denied as untimely, even if available at all. The claim was authentication of warrant papers as an exhibit in 2013. That’s not even a basis for the writ. He was charged … Continue reading
D.S.C.: On a 4th motion to keep SW materials under seal, granted for another year
On this fourth motion to extend deadline, the warrant materials here are ordered sealed for another year because of an ongoing investigation. The court finds redactions aren’t reasonably possible. In re Seized Misc. United States Currency, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading
Three on Franks
Review of an affidavit for a search warrant is “four corners” review. Defendant sought to offer a police report and the government objected. The court inquired into whether a Franks challenge was coming. He agreed, so he gets leave to … Continue reading
CA10: That officer could have provided false affidavit is not a ‘substantial preliminary showing’ for Franks
“Velarde-Pavia has offered no evidence that Officer Juarez lied in his affidavit. Rather than make the needed ‘substantial preliminary showing,’ Velarde-Pavia only speculates that Officer Juarez could be lying–that is not enough.” As to informant hearsay, the affidavit for the … Continue reading
CA4: Conclusory allegations don’t satisfy Franks
“In arguing that he was entitled to a Franks hearing, Landaverde-Giron relies only on his own conclusory allegations to demonstrate intentional falsity or reckless disregard for the truth by the affiant. He points to no evidence supporting his conclusion that … Continue reading
M.D.Pa.: Failure to completely follow inventory policy doesn’t require suppression
The inventory here wasn’t complete because defendant’s cell phone wasn’t in the inventory and apparently left behind. [Now that’s ironic.] A gun and ammunition were. Because they are dangerous instrumentalities, that makes the inventory reasonable. “It is not obvious to … Continue reading
D.Conn.: CI was personally involved in info he provided, and he was further corroborated by an unrelated wiretap
The CI here was untested for prior reliability, but the information was detailed and had the CI’s personal involvement. Moreover, an unrelated wiretap provided some corroboration of the CI’s involvement. This probable cause finding is not a close call. If … Continue reading
NY1: Where seized evidence wasn’t used at trial, it’s moot
Defendant’s Fourth Amendment argument on appeal is moot. The evidence he complains was wrongly seized wasn’t used at trial. People v. Gordon, 2022 NY Slip Op 00055, 2022 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 63 (1st Dept. Jan. 6, 2022). The omitted … Continue reading
CA1: “Face-to-face” contact with CI by another officer was sufficient
“Although we have said that ‘face-to-face contact between the agent and informant’ and an agent’s opportunity to personally question him generally provides indicia of that informant’s reliability, see, e.g., Dixon, 787 F.3d at 59; Greenburg, 410 F.3d at 67, the … Continue reading
NY4: Evidence tech’s warrantless further search of premises unreasonable
The evidence technician’s testimony at the suppression hearing did not establish that a further search of the premises was necessary as part of an emergency. She knew dead person on the premises had already been pronounced when she got there. … Continue reading
D.Del.: 4A child seizure claim requires the child be a party
A Fourth Amendment child seizure claim requires the child be a party, even if the parents assert the child’s rights. Spahr v. Collins, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 241127 (D.Del. Dec. 17, 2021). Defendant in his 2255 cannot show defense counsel … Continue reading
W.D.La.: In a § 1983 suit over a SW, informer privilege prevents disclosure here
In a § 1983 suit over a search warrant, the defendants plead informer privilege to prevent disclosure of the CI that led to the search. Denied. Informant privilege stronger in civil cases than criminal. There was also significant other information … Continue reading
OH6: No standing in a package stopped in transit where def’s name not anywhere on it
Defendant lacked standing to contest the detention of a package in transit in the Post Office because he was neither shown as the addressee nor the recipient. Even so, there was reasonable suspicion to detain the package. The dog sniff … Continue reading
CA11: Ptf had no REP in workplace computer, even with personal iPhone backed up on it
Plaintiff had no reasonable expectation of privacy in her workplace computer from a search by the employer during an audit of her time off related to a second job instigated after a discrimination complaint. The fact she backed her iPhone … Continue reading
CA4: After an agreed remand for a Franks hearing, no materiality found
The parties previously agreed to a remand for a Franks hearing. Now it’s back. “None of these omissions-even when viewed together-change the probable-cause determination. At the outset, Hall’s identified omissions are problematic for him to rely upon. For omissions about … Continue reading
N.D.Iowa: Referring to social media posts as “open source” when friending is required isn’t materially false
It was not a Franks violation to refer to defendant’s social media posts as “open source” when defendant limited it to only “friends.” United States v. Smith, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 230826 (N.D.Iowa Dec. 2, 2021), adopting 2021 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading
N.D.Tex.: DEA makes traffic stops
The DEA had reasonable suspicion based on collective knowledge to believe a traffic offense occurred to stop defendant’s car. United States v. Camacho, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 229674 (N.D.Tex. Nov. 30, 2021). Defendant challenged the search warrant for his blood … Continue reading