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Recent Posts
- LA4: Merely having a concealed firearm isn’t RS for a frisk
- OR: Merely driving off the road wasn’t RS, but adding the driver’s demeanor at the time was
- OH6: Trial court’s failure to explain RS under Rodriguez required remand
- CA6: Asking def before a patdown during arrest what he had on him wasn’t barred by Miranda
- NY Queens: PC shown for SW blood drawn at hospital after car wreck
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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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Congressional Research Service:
--Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
--Overview of the 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: Consent
CT: IAC in cell phone search decided on lack of prejudice, not the merits
Defendant was convicted of accessory to murder. He claimed trial counsel was ineffective for not moving to suppress the 2013 search of his cell phone. Police sought a warrant for the phone, and the DA prepared it. While the papers … Continue reading →
NC: Officer who made illegal entry was not discharging “official duty” when he was assaulted
“As a warrant was required for the officers to lawfully enter the home, and no warrant had been issued when the officers entered the home and encountered Defendant, the officers’ entry into the home was unlawful. Thus, the State failed … Continue reading →
D.Mass.: Plea agreement foreclosed return of property
Defendant’s plea agreement foreclosed his Rule 41(g) motion for return of property. United States v. Spencer, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 206257 (D. Mass. Nov. 17, 2023). Defendant’s motion to reconsider denial of his motion to suppress the timeliness of his … Continue reading →
D.S.D.: Casual visitor who was not an overnight guest lacked standing
Defendant was not an overnight guest and was a casual visitor to the premises who lacked standing [heavily relying on a pre-Carter case of mine from 1985 where there was no standing]. United States v. Quigley, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading →
Cal.3d: Falsely telling def that officers wouldn’t tow his car if he consented to a search made the consent involuntary
Falsely telling defendant that officers wouldn’t tow his car if he consented to a search made the consent involuntary. Here, the officer’s statement as to the law was false. Boitez v. Superior Court, 2023 Cal. App. LEXIS 859 (3d Dist. … Continue reading →
WI: Failure to respond to City’s letter to inspect rat-infested property was implied consent
The city wrote by certified mail to the owner of rat-infested property apparently abandoned since he hadn’t come from home in California since before Covid. State law allows inspections if requested and permitted. The owner never responded. His Fourth Amendment … Continue reading →
GA: SW for things that were not controlled substances entitles target to return of the property
The search warrant here was for delta-8,9,10-THC but 8 and 10 are not controlled substances. Lacking probable cause for them, the search target is entitled to return of its property. Elements Distribution v. State, 2023 Ga. App. LEXIS 535 (Nov. … Continue reading →
NE: Reliability of Google Translate app for use to get consent to search not preserved below
Consent to search granted by a non-English speaking suspect via Google Translate app was not properly preserved for appeal as to the accuracy of the translation. “While Hernandez’ counsel objected to the admission of the evidence obtained from the search … Continue reading →
KY: State could refer at trial to SW for DNA, but it couldn’t say def refused consent
It was not error to permit the state to inquire that a search warrant was used to get defendant’s DNA, as long as there was no reference to his refusal of consent. Finch v. Commonwealth, 2023 Ky. LEXIS 302 (Oct. … Continue reading →
D.Colo.: No REP CI won’t record you
Defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy against a CI recording him, so defense counsel wasn’t ineffective for not challenging it. United States v. Andasola, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 190985 (D. Colo. Oct. 24, 2023).* The officer had reasonable suspicion … Continue reading →
CA11: Mandamus not remedy to overcome waived 2255
Petitioner waived his 2255 and can’t raise his Fourth Amendment ineffective assistance of counsel claim by mandamus. In re Morgan, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 28330 (11th Cir. Oct. 24, 2023). The sheriff solicited nude pictures of a person that became … Continue reading →
CA6: 911 calls about dangerous situation satisfied Navarette
The information from 911 callers was detailed and explained a dangerous situation, and reasonable suspicion existed under Navarette. United States v. Duplessis, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 27980 (6th Cir. Oct. 19, 2023).* “Here, Jordan asked whether Hammond would mind if … Continue reading →
DE: Def consented to search of his cell phone in an effort to prove his alibi
Defendant consented to search of his cell phone in an effort to prove his alibi. Blackwood v. State, 2023 Del. LEXIS 328 (Oct. 11, 2023). Defendant’s guilty plea wasn’t a conditional plea, so the search issue was waived. If he … Continue reading →
OH7: Def didn’t impliedly consent to officer’s entry into hotel room when def was getting his ID
The officer encountered defendant in the hotel lobby. He asked for defendant’s ID, and defendant said he had to go to his room to get it. The officer asked if he could accompany him to the room. The officer’s entry … Continue reading →
N.D.Cal.: Motion to suppress based on state court issuing judge lacking jurisdiction saved by GFE even if true
Defendant’s motion to suppress based on the state court judge issuing the warrant lacking jurisdiction is denied on the merits and by the good faith exception. United States v. Bailey, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 179249 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 4, 2023). … Continue reading →
CA11: No REP in package shipped to def’s GF where his name wasn’t on package
Defendant showed no reasonable expectation of privacy in a package of fentanyl shipped to his girlfriend at the place where he was staying. United States v. Harris, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 25677 (11th Cir. Sep. 28, 2023). Defendant’s hesitation following … Continue reading →
D.R.I.: Protective sweep unjustified; no reason to believe anyone else was there
Defendant’s premises had been under surveillance for days before the entry and protective sweep. There was no justification for the protective sweep because there was no reason to believe anyone else was there. United States v. Dacruz, 2023 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading →
N.D.Okla.: Video doesn’t support officer’s claim of excessive nervousness
The court does not credit the officer’s claim that defendant was excessively nervous to the point of stuttering during the stop in the officer’s effort to show reasonable suspicion. It appears to the court from the video to be no … Continue reading →
GA: Unjustified protective sweep suppressed
The “security sweep” of defendant’s dwelling violated the Fourth Amendment. No justification for the entry and no exigent circumstances were shown. Defendant’s alleged consent came after the unlawful entry. Denial of suppression reversed. Thompson v. State, 2023 Ga. App. LEXIS … Continue reading →
NM: State had to support search incident to arrest of def’s purse at suppression hearing and didn’t
Defendant’s purse over the shoulder was not part of her person. It was removed from her and later searched incident to arrest. The state failed to support the search incident doctrine at the suppression hearing of where the purse was … Continue reading →