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- N.D.Cal.: Typo in list of crimes being investigated in affidavit for SW could be overlooked
- MN: Risk of destruction of evidence was exigency for seizure of cell phone
- CA4: Use of a cell-site simulator to locate def was a search under the 4A
- TN: Bailbond bounty hunter not state actor
- TX: If electronic search was illegal, it was harmless
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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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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. 
Category Archives: Consent
TN: Bailbond bounty hunter not state actor
Bailbonding agent’s bounty hunters were not state actors in capturing defendant and searching his car. State v. Dragg, 2026 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 637 (Sep. 24, 2026). Defendant’s post-conviction petition argues defense counsel applied the wrong standard of review but … Continue reading →
Cal.4: School resource officers need RS for a weapons search in school
School resource officers also need reasonable suspicion for a weapons search in school, and here the officer had it. At a middle school no less. In re N.S., 2026 Cal. App. LEXIS 548 (4th Dist. Sep. 8, 2026). As long … Continue reading →
MT: Semi-conscious injured driver couldn’t consent to BAC blood draw
Defendant was seriously injured in a car wreck and was at best semi-conscious. She could not consent to a DUI blood draw. Suppression order affirmed. State v. Laroque, 2026 MT 209 (Sept. 1, 2026). The totality of circumstances showed defendant … Continue reading →
KY: Consent to blood draw was not voluntary under totality
Defendant’s consent to a blood draw was not voluntary under the totality of circumstances. “The facts at hand demonstrate why a totality-of-the-circumstances analysis is crucial. McCarthy and Haney provide that being read a coercive implied consent warning is but one … Continue reading →
E.D.Mich.: Person a cell phone was given to as gift could consent to search
Defendant gave an old cell phone to his niece. On it, she found child pornography, and she took it to the police who she showed images and texts. The officer didn’t search. She had apparent authority to consent to search … Continue reading →
CA8: Nebraska statute allowing SWs to cross state lines doesn’t violate 4A
Nebraska statute authorizes search warrants to cross state lines, and this does not violate the Fourth Amendment. This was a Snapchat warrant. [The Stored Communications Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2703(a,d), allows state subpoenas to cross state lines.] United States v. … Continue reading →
NC: Def’s bloody shirt seized as evidence from ER didn’t need a SW to test for DNA
Defendant was a suspect in a shooting incident. At the ER, his bloody shirt was collected as evidence. A separate search warrant wasn’t required to test the DNA on it. State v. Howze, 2026 N.C. App. LEXIS 652 (Aug. 5, … Continue reading →
CA8: Lesser intrusive measures not required for jail strip search
Defendant was strip searched on going into jail, no matter what type of unit he was going to, and a baggie of meth was found under his genitals. The strip search was reasonable and the jail didn’t have to accommodate … Continue reading →
MI: Suppression hearing is a critical stage of the proceedings
A suppression hearing is a critical stage of the proceedings, and defendant was unrepresented at that point due to disagreements with first retained and then appointed counsel. Remanded. The pretrial motions in general were disorganized, and the Fourth Amendment claim … Continue reading →
SC: Police didn’t need a SW to access def’s bondsman’s GPS monitoring of him because he agreed to GPS monitoring for release
Defendant submitted to GPS monitoring by his bondsman as a condition of bail, and the police could call the bondsman for the GPS information to connect defendant to a new crime without a warrant. State v. Eberhart, 2026 S.C. App. … Continue reading →
D.D.C.: SW of house for clothing used in crime didn’t violate 4A
There was probable cause for search of defendant’s house for clothing that was worn in the crime. What happens outside the house can create an inference that what’s sought is inside. (The good faith exception would also apply.) United States … Continue reading →
E.D.Ark.: Ptf stated claim for SW entry without proper announcement
The search target’s shooting death case can proceed on an excessive force claim and failure to properly announce entry in an ATF raid. Malinowski v. United States, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 134589 (E.D. Ark. June 17, 2026). “Harris fails to … Continue reading →
CA6: The smell of burnt MJ in a car is still PC for driving under influence even where personal possession is legal.
“Possession of recreational marijuana may be legal in Missouri, but ‘[o]perating or being in physical control of any motor vehicle … while under the influence of marijuana’ is not. Mo. Const. art. XIV § 2(3)(1)(d). Considering the strong odor of … Continue reading →
CA8: Admission of anonymous tip that led to stop violated Confrontation Clause
Admission in evidence of the anonymous tip that led to defendant’s stop violated the Confrontation Clause. United States v. Simpson, 25-1263 (8th Cir. June 2, 2026). The search warrants here were subject to the Privacy Protection Act, and they were … Continue reading →
CA8: Def’s 20 prior arrests helped show voluntariness of consent
Despite the lack of a Miranda warning, defendant consented to the search. After all, she’d been arrested about 20 times before this one. United States v. Marr, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 15161 (8th Cir. May 28, 2026). A Bivens action … Continue reading →
N.D.Fla.: Monitored bowel movement in prison didn’t violate 4A
In prison, “the visual strip search and the monitored bowel movement did not violate the Fourth Amendment.” McDonald v. Spears, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107383 (N.D. Fla. Apr. 6, 2026). Defendant’s consent to search his cell phone was limited and … Continue reading →
N.D.Cal.: Collateral estoppel bars relitigation in federal court of 4A claim lost in state court
Plaintiff fully litigated his Fourth Amendment claim in state court and lost. Collateral estoppel bars him from pursuing a federal claim for the same thing. Pelton v. Amador, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 98995 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 24, 2026). Defendant faults … Continue reading →
E.D.N.C.: SW not required to look in def’s jail property bag and retrieve car keys
Inserting a key in a lock to see if it worked wasn’t a search. The key was in his jail property and lawfully taken from there. A warrant wasn’t required to get into his property bag. United States v. Miller, … Continue reading →
D.N.M.: Consent attenuated unreasonable search
Opening a box in defendant’s car was an unreasonable search, and it likely violated the Fourth Amendment. Defendant was later Mirandized and consented. After a thorough discussion of the caselaw, the court finds that the constitutional violation was slight [what … Continue reading →
OR: Voluntary consent to a blood draw after accident and pain meds in hospital
Defendant voluntarily consented to a blood draw for DUII at the hospital despite having been in an accident and received pain medication. State v. Miller, 375 Or. 173 (Apr. 23, 2026). There was probable cause to put a tracking device … Continue reading →