Archives
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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
OR: Generalized consent to open and look in a purse at a courthouse entrance is not per se consent to search a closed container inside
Court reaffirms that generalized consent to open and look in a purse at a courthouse entrance is not per se consent to search a closed container inside. State v. Winn, 361 Ore. 636, 2017 Ore. LEXIS 422 (June 29, 2017). … Continue reading →
E.D.Tenn.: No IAC where nothing from unchallenged alleged illegal search was put used at trial
Defense counsel can’t be ineffective for not filing a motion to suppress where nothing from the search was put into evidence at defendant’s trial. There is no prejudice. Jordan v. United States, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102698 (E.D. Tenn. July … Continue reading →
OH1: Apparent authority shown for third party consent to search of def’s bedroom
Consent was granted by someone the police reasonably believed had apparent authority to consent to a search of defendant’s bedroom [no facts given to see how there’s third party consent to a bedroom, so this is immediately suspect]. State v. … Continue reading →
TX1: Smell of MJ in car not found didn’t support search of pockets
The smell of marijuana coming from defendant’s car, never found in a search of the car, didn’t justify a search of his person while he was handcuffed and sitting on the curb. Meane v. State, 2017 Tex. App. LEXIS 5976 … Continue reading →
GA: Minor didn’t consent to DUI blood draw
The trial court’s finding that a minor’s consent to a blood draw was invalid is affirmed on appeal. The trooper signed the consent form for him. In the Interest of C.W., 2017 Ga. App. LEXIS 329 (June 28, 2017).* Late … Continue reading →
CA7: Def was removed because he was arrested, not to avoid denial of consent; his girlfriend could consent to a search of the house but for his gun safes
Defendant’s girlfriend’s daughter left their house and reported to the police that defendant had been sexually assaulting her. Police came and ordered him out. Defendant was removed because he was arrested, not to obviate his consent. His girlfriend consented to … Continue reading →
CA11: Defs running a CC fraud operation calling the police to report a burglary of their place consented to entry when the police showed up to investigate them but said they were CSIs
Defendants were involved in credit card fraud. They were the victims of a burglary, and the burglar snitched them off. The police were called to investigate the burglary and these investigators came as a ruse that they were crime scene … Continue reading →
GA: Std of review: If video clear, it controls on its facts and gets de novo review
Defendant was stopped for driving a motorcycle without a helmet, and alcohol was on his breath. The objective facts from the video show the FST and breath test were consensual. “And, where, as here, the controlling facts are undisputed because … Continue reading →
D.N.M.: GPS tracking warrants can be issued by USMJs; Title III doesn’t apply
The GPS tracking warrants were issued by a USMJ, and Title III’s restriction on only USDJs issuing wiretaps doesn’t apply tracking warrants [which are specifically mentioned in Rule 41]. The tracking did not exceed the 45 day limitation in the … Continue reading →
M.D.Pa.: Def kept talking about her husband’s drug activities after ticket issued; that was a consensual extension of the stop
An unlit license plate light was enough for a stop. “Because Defendant had already been issued a traffic citation and then proceeded to initiate further conversation with Officer Monte about her husband’s drug-related activities, the court finds that, under the … Continue reading →
LA2: Reasonable possibility respondent was father was enough to order DNA test in face of 4A objection
Respondent was the subject of a petition to establish paternity, and he claimed that the statute to order DNA testing required the Fourth Amendment be complied with. “Here, Rogers argues that in order to prove a reasonable possibility of paternity, … Continue reading →
D.P.R.: Officer found not believable on facts allegedly leading to RS
The court finds the officer not credible that the defendant picked up a gun and put in his pocket and there was thus no reasonable suspicion for his detention. United States v. Cruz-Montañez, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 96079 (D. P.R. … Continue reading →
DE: Video doesn’t support state’s claim of consent; smell of MJ gave PC
The dashcam video supports the fact the license plate light was out. The court rejects the state’s argument for consent because the video doesn’t even support it. Instead, the smell of marijuana and defendant’s admission he recently smoked gave probable … Continue reading →
M.D.Pa.: A traffic stop can be pretextual under Whren as long as there is a real reason, too
Under Whren, the stop of a vehicle can be completely pretextual as long as a factual basis is shown. The officer said defendant was speeding, and there’s nothing in the record that suggests otherwise. United States v. Ponder, 2017 U.S. … Continue reading →
OR: Knowledge of the scope of consent needs to be unambiguous
Failure to object to a search is not consent unless it is unambiguously granted. On this record, it’s not clear defendant even knew that a search of a knotted grocery bag within a backpack would happen, so the case is … Continue reading →
S.D.Fla.: 4A IAC claim has to be decided on merits first; if search valid, no IAC
An IAC claim for failure to file a motion to suppress usually requires the merits of the motion be decided. “Because neither of the Fourth Amendment arguments have merit, trial counsel’s failure to move to suppress this evidence did not … Continue reading →
CA9: Entry by def’s bondsman was by contractual consent; gun not suppressed
Defendant was arrested in his home by his bondsman retaking him, and the bondsman recovered a gun. Defendant was a felon. Defendant consented in advance to being retaken by his bondsman, and that was essentially consent in advance. United States … Continue reading →
RI: Admissions made when signing consent to search form weren’t during “custodial interrogation”
Defendant made admissions when signing the consent to search form, and he was not in custody at the time. State v. Sabourin, 2017 R.I. LEXIS 82 (June 9, 2017):
E.D.Mich.: Nighttime knock-and-talk and badgering led to invalid consent
Seven to nine DEA agents and a SWAT team showed up at defendant’s house at 11:30 pm October 31 for a knock-and-talk to see if defendant would consent. This was triggered by the arrest of coconspirators. Defendant’s wife finally relented … Continue reading →
ND: Consent to search to prevent towing and impoundment of a vehicle is voluntary
Consent to search to prevent towing and impoundment of a vehicle is voluntary. State v. Shick, 2017 ND 134, 2017 N.D. LEXIS 131 (June 7, 2017). Officers got a call about a possible drunk driver, and they went to the … Continue reading →