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Recent Posts
- CA2: No 4A requirement for SWs being issued with notice to target
- CA6: Denying ptf access to his own bathroom during a search of his house stated 4A claim
- W.D.Mo.: Not exactly following the inventory policy doesn’t make it unreasonable under 4A
- GA: No IAC for not challenging complete cell phone download before search
- DNYUZ: CBP Workers Allegedly Used Government Databases to Spy on Exes, Crushes, and Colleagues
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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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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)
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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
GA: State privilege against self-incrimination prevents the state from using refusal to submit to a BAC test at trial
Under the Georgia constitution, the state privilege against self-incrimination prevents the state from using refusal to submit to a BAC test against the accused in a DUI trial. Elliott v. State, 2019 Ga. LEXIS 112 (Feb, 18, 2019). This search … Continue reading →
OH5: Officers continually refreshed the voluntariness of the encounter so consent valid
Defendant’s consent to search was ‘voluntary, uncoerced and valid’ and the detectives continually refreshed the voluntariness of the encounter, and continued to meet with complete cooperation from defendant. State v. Gomez, 2019-Ohio-481, 2019 Ohio App. LEXIS 499 (5th Dist. Feb. … Continue reading →
CA4: 31 day delay in getting SW for cell phone was unreasonable
The government’s 31 day delay in getting a search warrant for defendant’s cell phone after its seizure was unreasonable and required suppression of the alleged child pornography on the phone. Because defendant was sentenced to life, the error was not … Continue reading →
IA: Def’s consent to patdown for weapons wasn’t consent to open container that could not have contained a weapon
Defendant consented to a patdown for weapons. Removing an object and opening it that couldn’t be holding a weapon exceeded the consent. State v. Hampton, 2019 Iowa App. LEXIS 108 (Feb. 6, 2019). The evidence the police gathered showed that … Continue reading →
NY2: SW for person and house didn’t permit search of cars out front
The search warrant was for defendant’s person and his house. The police also searched two cars on the premises. The court finds the cars outside the warrant and suppresses them. People v. Gordon, 2019 NY Slip Op 00901, 2019 N.Y. … Continue reading →
N.-M. Ct.Crim.App.: Def knowingly consented to cell phone search in stalking investigation; he was graduate of Naval Academy
Defense counsel was not ineffective for not challenging defendant’s consent to search of his cell phone in a stalking investigation. Defendant understood that the scope of the search would be as broad as necessary, and he knowingly consented. The court … Continue reading →
C.D.Cal. LAPD didn’t violate 4A by not returning a seized gun without a court order as required by CA law
Plaintiff sued LAPD for not returning firearms seized without a state court order as required by California law. Plaintiff hasn’t shown that the LAPD policy violates the Fourth Amendment. Wright v. Beck, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15778 (C.D. Cal. Jan. … Continue reading →
CA4: Bodycam video shows consent to enter and statement made were voluntary
The government had consent to enter defendant’s home, and he was convicted of illegal entry and deported. The bodycam video supports the finding of voluntary consent. United States v. Azua-Rinconada, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 2783 (4th Cir. Jan. 28, 2019):
Minor discrepancies and lack of contemporaneous notes of surveillance didn’t make these observations not credible to fact finder
Some discrepancies in the testimony of two officers about defendant’s consent doesn’t make them unbelievable. It’s the province of the fact finder, here the USMJ, to make that determination and consent was found by a preponderance of the evidence. United … Continue reading →
OH2: PC for SW for flash drive for possible evidence was shown by prior allegation of recorded assault
The officer had reasonable suspicion to stop defendant for suspicion of sexual assault since he was leaving the house from where the report came at 2:30 am. A search warrant for a flash drive found in defendant’s backpack was reasonable … Continue reading →
Cal.4: There is no 4A issue in police creating fake social media identities to “friend” a suspect to see more private pages
There is no Fourth Amendment issue in a police officer posing as a false friend on social media accounts to see defendant’s private pages he shares with others. Here, defendant was seen wearing a gold chain taken from his robbery … Continue reading →
WY: Detention was reasonably extended as RS developed and defendant consented
Defendant’s motion to suppress drugs seized after a traffic stop because of the scope of the detention was denied, given that the original purpose of the stop was not yet complete when the officer inquired about defendant’s travel plans and … Continue reading →
IL: Housesitter has no standing
House sitter and dog watcher had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the house he was watching. Officers at the door could also see drugs on the table from the door. He had no standing: “In sum, it is not … Continue reading →
OH: Request for consent for a DNA swab is not an interrogation.
A request for consent for a DNA swab is not an interrogation. “By making this request, Weinhardt was asking Tench to consent to a search. But ‘a request to search does not amount to interrogation.’ United States v. Smith, 3 … Continue reading →
OH11: Def was reasonably believed to be a resident in motel room, not a visitor, so arrest warrant permitted entry
Officers had reason to believe that defendant was a resident in the motel room, not a visitor, so an arrest warrant was enough for officers to enter. State v. Hughes, 2018-Ohio-5069. 2018 Ohio App. LEXIS 5384 (11th Dist. Dec. 17, … Continue reading →
GA: Guest had standing but he was subject to owner’s consenting
Defendant had standing as an overnight guest, but he was subject to the consent of the owner. Here, the owner did. Doleman v. State, 2018 Ga. LEXIS 791 (Dec. 10, 2018). Defense counsel wasn’t ineffective for embracing the fact that … Continue reading →
N.D.Miss.: Use of a smartphone app to translate request for consent was mooted by valid Spanish consent form
The officer used a smartphone translation application which has been disapproved of by other courts. Here, however, defendant also got a form in correct Spanish, and that overcame the use of the app. United States v. Salemi-Nicoloso, 2018 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading →
WI: Body camera video showed def just went along with directions and didn’t consent; if there was consent, it was revoked
The body camera video showed neither exigency nor consent for the entry into defendant’s apartment. Silently going along with the officer’s several directives, not requests, didn’t show that defendant consented. Even if defendant had consented, the attempt to close the … Continue reading →
NH: Request to consult with counsel doesn’t weigh against finding voluntary consent
Defendant’s consent was voluntary on the totality. “There is no evidence that the detectives coerced the defendant into signing the consent form and the defendant offered no evidence to the trial court that conflicted with Lombardi’s testimony regarding the facts … Continue reading →
M.D.Pa.: Consent to “look around the home” is broad consent
Consent to “look around the home” is broad consent. “Here, Special Agent Kovach asked Defendant if he minded if the ATF agents looked around the Home, to which Defendant replied, ‘No.’ … Special Agent Kovach’s search request was broad, and … Continue reading →