May 2026 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Archives
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Recent Posts
- NY Columbia Co.: Alleged excessive nervousness when multiple police cars arrive at a traffic stop doesn’t add to RS
- CA4: Backpack dumped in flight in grandmother’s yard was abandoned
- GA: Virtually all-inclusive list of items to be seized wasn’t overbroad
- CA4: Dist.Ct. erred in applying search incident to arrest to suppress bag when inventory was inevitable
- OR: Even if original served warrant wasn’t the one returned, it doesn’t warrant suppression
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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: Nexus
D.Me.: CP on a cell phone is nexus to CP being on a computer
Child pornography on defendant’s cell phone is nexus to his computer. Computers are common storage devices for cell phone pictures and information. “Common sense suggests that if an individual has images of child pornography downloaded to one electronic device, the … Continue reading
D.Md.: Nexus shown by def’s car driven to drug deal was registered at his house and he left there to do the deal
Defendant was alleged to have left the address his car was registered at to go to a controlled buy. That showed nexus to the house. United States v. Goldsberry, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 199446 (D. Md. Dec. 4, 2017). Defendant … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Def was alleged to be involved in a pill mill, but SW was for his home; affidavit showed nexus to home for instrumentalities of crime
Police got a search warrant for defendant’s home in a pill mill case. “This affidavit did not attempt to establish probable cause to believe Knight was conducting prescription drug deals at his home. Instead, it attempted to establish probable cause … Continue reading
MA: Nexus shown between murder and def’s computer having relevant evidence on it
The state showed nexus to defendant’s laptop and the victim’s murder. Defendant had forged documents on a computer before, and it was reasonable to conclude that similar events happened here by defendant’s hand. Defendant was well experienced in using computers … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Def driving back to his house after a drug sale establishes nexus to the house
Driving back to one’s house after a drug sale establishes nexus to the house. United States v. Rich, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 173634 (E.D. Mich. Oct. 20, 2017). Defense counsel wasn’t ineffective for not moving to suppress defendant’s stop which … Continue reading
M.D.Pa.: The fact def’s cell phone was used to call the CI was PC for search of the phone
Nexus was shown for defendant’s cell phone: “The affidavit described various calls made between the CI and defendant regarding the planning of the jewelry store robbery, the dates of the calls, as well as discussions about how the firearm needed … Continue reading
IL: PC for house comes from man leaving house in car registered at house to do a drug deal
There was a substantial basis for finding probable cause for a search warrant for defendant’s house where a man left the house to proceed directly to a drug transaction and the car was registered at that address. That’s sufficient nexus … Continue reading
TX14: Argument that arrest violated 4A wasn’t specific enough to preserve lack of PC
Arguing that one’s arrest violated the Fourth Amendment didn’t preserve his lack of probable cause claim on appeal. Doremus v. State, 2017 Tex. App. LEXIS 7702 (Tex. App. – Houston (14th Dist.) Aug. 15, 2017). The affidavits in support of … Continue reading
Army CCA: Def showed IAC from defense counsel’s decision to forgo a motion to suppress; failure to show nexus was unreasoned and entitled to no Strickland deference
Defendant on post-conviction showed that trial defense counsel’s decision to forgo a motion to suppress for failure to show nexus was unreasoned and entitled to no Strickland deference. United States v. Close, 2017 CCA LEXIS 432 (Army Ct. Crim. App. … Continue reading
E.D.Va.: There is no higher nexus requirement involving cell phone data and tracking
There is no higher nexus requirement involving cell phones. A ping order of a cell phone may be used to collect “mere evidence,” rejecting United States v. Powell, 943 F. Supp. 2d 759 (E.D. Mich. 2013). United States v. Christian, … Continue reading
D.Minn.: Delivery of meth to house in past was nexus
Nexus to the premises was shown by the observation of five pounds of methamphetamine being picked up there. United States v. Barron-Celis, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73083 (D. Minn. April 4, 2017),* adopted, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 72250 (D. Minn. … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Texas state SW was used to search cell phones, but FBI later searched by downloading contents w/o warrant so latter search suppressed; conspiracy to rob infers nexus
The Texas state court search warrant authorized a search for evidence on a cell phone of any crime, and that’s problematic. The affidavit, however, specifically referred to home invasion robberies, and that gave context. The search warrant was thus particular. … Continue reading
N.D.Ohio: SW affidavit was so bare bones it never showed nexus or particularity; no GFE
The affidavit for search warrant here failed to show nexus between defendant’s house and drug dealing. There was some suspicion involving others and a stale anonymous tip never corroborated. Nothing implicated defendant except that one co-defendant was driving defendant’s van … Continue reading
D.Minn.: Complete failure of showing nexus fails PC and GFE
The affidavit for the search warrant completely failed to show nexus to defendant’s house and drugs. Complete lack of nexus does not support the good faith exception either. United States v. Rios-Uscanga, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68991 (D.Minn. March 13, … Continue reading
CA1: SW for guns on 4 mo old information wasn’t stale
Defendant was a reputed Boston mobster on the lam in Idaho with a different name. Police were tipped off to his location, interviewed neighbors learning about guns, and then allegedly went to his house and peeked in the window. Even … Continue reading
D.Nev.: There is no co-conspirator standing
Defendant was charged as a co-conspirator in a drug conspiracy involving a warehouse. He makes no effort to show his individual standing, and being a co-conspirator isn’t enough. United States v. Galecki, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 185667 (D. Nev. Sept. … Continue reading
CA11: No nexus shown for cell phone SW, but def was on probation, so inevitable discovery applies
Cell phone search warrant failed to show nexus between the phone and the alleged crime. In considering remedy, the court decides not to apply the good faith exception and instead goes with inevitable discovery. Defendant was on probation and there … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: It’s a reasonable inference that stolen property will be at the robber’s home
As to nexus, it is reasonable to infer that the proceeds of a robbery are kept at the home of the robber. Also, “The affidavits need not prove that the belief that contraband or evidence of a crime will be … Continue reading
CA9: ATF officer’s SW affidavit said dealers of illegal drugs and guns often use cell phones showed nexus; recording phone’s SN at book-in wasn’t unreasonable
Noting in the affidavit for search warrant that defendant was allegedly involved in drug and gun sales and that drug dealers regularly use cell phones was enough to get a search warrant for his cell phones contents. Recording the serial … Continue reading
DE: Just being involved in a shooting doesn’t give nexus to search a cell phone
The state here failed to show nexus between defendant’s cell phone and a shooting incident. In addition, the search warrant lacked all particularity — it sought to search three cell phones for data and calls without time limit or scope. … Continue reading