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- Bloomberg Law: Texas’ 100-Plus Year Investigatory Tool Ruled Unconstitutional
- D.Minn.: State law permits POs to conduct “unannounced visits” and that includes unannounced warrantless searches
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- CA5: The 4A doesn’t limit the number of officers that show up for an administrative search
- D.Idaho: The exclusionary rule does not apply in pretrial release revocations
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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 (27,400+ on WordPress as of 7/23/24) -
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--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: Dog sniff
IN: Warrantless pulling on a loose car door panel was with PC and reasonable
The officer’s warrantless pulling on a loose car door panel with probable cause was not an unreasonable search under the Fourth Amendment or state constitution. Young v. State, 2024 Ind. App. LEXIS 279 (Oct. 4, 2024). The arrival of drug … Continue reading
CA9: Inventory of backpack of just released suspect was still reasonable
Defendant was arrested on suspicion of murder, and his backpack was put in the police car. His backpack was briefly searched and nothing was found. He was released after questioning, but his backpack was subjected to a later inventory which … Continue reading
GA: Swabbing handcuffed arrestee’s hands for DNA valid as SI
Swabbing defendant’s hands for DNA while he was handcuffed in an interrogation room was valid as search incident. The DNA was easily destroyed. (Thus exigency too.) Gonzalez v. State, 2024 Ga. LEXIS 203 (Sep. 17, 2024). An warrant still in … Continue reading
CA8: 4A requires no particular type of drug dog alert
“Collier also questions how Raptor alerted, suggesting that its alert was insufficiently ‘profound.’ … Our ‘probable cause inquiry is always fact specific.’ … Every dog is unique, and a dog that smells illicit drugs is not required to communicate with … Continue reading
MN: The totality of circumstances claimed to be RS were more innocent that suggesting criminality was afoot
“Altogether, the totality of the circumstances in this record do not amount to particularized suspicion. The officer acknowledged he did not have sufficient evidence to support a DUI investigation. The evidence at the suppression hearing consisted of ‘“otherwise perfectly legal … Continue reading
TX14: The dog sniff violated the 4A because the dog’s nose went in the car window
The dog sniff violated the Fourth Amendment because the dog’s nose went in the car window and sniffed the interior. State v. Organ, 2024 Tex. App. LEXIS 6279 (Tex. App. – Houston (14th Dist.) Aug. 27, 2024). “We conclude that … Continue reading
HI: Failure to litigate application of Posse Commitatus Act was IAC under state law
Defense counsel was ineffective for not raising the Posse Comitatus Act where his offense was just outside the Pearl Harbor base and the military was the first to respond. Other courts disagree, but the state exclusionary rule shows that there … Continue reading
NJ: Defense gets discovery of drug dog’s records
Defendant was entitled to discovery of the drug dog’s records to determine the dog’s reliability. State v. Morgan, 2024 N.J. Super. LEXIS 88 (Aug. 21, 2024). Suspicionless supervised release searches are reasonable when applied to child porn offenders. United States … Continue reading
D.Minn.: PC shown for SW for dog sniff at apartment door
There was probable cause for a dog sniff warrant at defendant’s apartment door. There was also probable cause for the warrant for his vehicle. The use of an unwitting informant doesn’t negate probable cause (collecting cases). United States v. Turner, … Continue reading
N.D.Cal.: iCloud SW was particular as to subject and time
This iCloud warrant was based on probable cause and was particular and had a specific time limit. “Certain of the categories of evidence authorized for seizure by the February iCloud Warrant may appear overbroad in isolation but are sufficiently particular … Continue reading
CA5: Drug dog jumping in already open window not unreasonable
Drug dog’s spontaneously jumping in the vehicle window that was down when the stop began wasn’t directed by the officer and didn’t violate the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Wilson, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 19424 (5th Cir. Aug. 2, 2024). … Continue reading
E.D.Mo.: A gun seized in plain view can be run to see if it’s stolen
An officer seizing a firearm in plain view off defendant could run it to see if it was stolen. United States v. Reid, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 130770 (E.D. Mo. June 11, 2024). 2255 petitioner’s IAC claim on Fourth Amendment … Continue reading
NJ: Under NJ’s broad discovery rules, drug dog records may be discoverable
“This appeal presents a question of first impression regarding when the State may be compelled to provide field and health reports of narcotics detection canines in accordance with the Supreme Court’s holding in Florida v. Harris, 568 U.S. 237 (2013). … Continue reading
OH4: Waiting for backup was prudent for delaying dog sniff even though there was no RS
With a late night stop of a person that had a drug history and the officer was outnumbered, it was prudent to call for backup before the dog sniff, and the total elapsed time wasn’t that much. The court of … Continue reading
N.D.Iowa: Dog sniff at apt door from common hallway was reasonable even if hallway was locked to outsiders
A dog sniff at an apartment door from a common hallway was reasonable, even if the hallway also had a locked door. “Following the reasoning in Penaloza-Romero and Peck, and applying the Dunn factors, I find that the area around … Continue reading
CA7: Drug dog’s 59% success rate still PC
The fact the drug dog here had only a 59% (or 80%) success rate is still probable cause. The fact a dog can’t tell the difference between legal and illegal cannabis is of no moment. It’s still probable cause. United … Continue reading
OH1: Inadvertence for plain view is a fact question
The inadvertence requirement of plain view here was a fact question. Police showed up on a wellness check about an allegedly suicidal person. Here it was a syringe cap that led to finding the syringe. State v. Hyatt, 2024-Ohio-2422 (1st … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: Questions about drugs without RS unreasonably extended stop
The officer’s questions about drugs during the mission of a routine traffic stop unreasonably extended the stop, and the dog sniff is suppressed. United States v. Chavez, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 110229 (N.D. Ga. June 3, 2024). Defendant rented an … Continue reading