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- AR: RS def rented a hotel room was sufficient for search waiver; PC not required
- LA5: No standing to challenge search of shooting victim’s cell phone in def’s possession
- N.D.Okla.: Cell phones possessed by tribal police not subject to return under Rule 41(g)
- E.D.Ark.: Landlord and tenant refused rental property inspection and SW was validly issued and protected privacy interests
- D.D.C.: Judge shopping after denial of SW inappropriate; could have appealed to DJ
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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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--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: Nexus
DE: Wiretap info in affidavit for SW showed nexus to cell phone
The affidavit showed probable cause for the search warrant, and nexus to his cell phone and the crime under investigation is shown in a wiretap. Anderson v. State, 2021 Del. LEXIS 121 (Mar. 30, 2021).* Defendant did not show a … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: No REP in medical questioning in jail
There is no reasonable expectation of privacy against medical questioning in a jail. Jones v. Quinones, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 59654 (S.D. N.Y. Mar. 26, 2021). The search warrants for a business that was searched by ICE remain under seal. … Continue reading
CA6: Driving from home to scene of drug deal is PC and nexus for the home
“To obtain a search warrant under the Fourth Amendment, the police must have “probable cause” that the ‘place’ they seek to search contains the ‘things’ they seek to seize. U.S. Const. amend. IV. Applying this test, we have repeatedly held … Continue reading
CA3: Nexus shown to def’s home for SW for clothing worn in robbery
When the object of a search is clothing worn during a robbery, there is nexus to defendant’s home. United States v. Ross, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 7701 (3d Cir. Mar. 17, 2021). Defendant answered the officer’s knock on the door … Continue reading
S.D.Ohio: Nexus shown for SW of business premises for drugs
“Applying this standard, the Field Affidavit is clearly not a bare bones affidavit. Intercepted phone calls, physical surveillance and trash pulls, along with information learned from confidential sources, would allow a reasonable officer ‘employing a healthy dose of common sense’ … Continue reading
S.D.Ohio: GFE overcomes lack of nexus; officer unaware of some facts didn’t commit Franks violation
The Franks hearing established that the officer didn’t know that certain things happened during the investigation, so the officer wasn’t withholding information or misleading the court. Probable cause and nexus is [less than] tenuous: “This evidence, standing alone, does not … Continue reading
S.D.Ohio: Nexus shown to business from alleged drug transactions outside
Nexus was shown to a business where drug transactions outside appeared to have continued inside, or at least the participants went inside right after. In any event, the good faith exception applies. United States v. Scott, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading
CA1: SWs are directed at places, too, and def didn’t need to be connected in the affidavit
Defendant made a Franks challenge. Removing the allegedly offending material still left probable cause. Defendant’s argument then was that the remainder still didn’t point to him, but that’s not the law: Search warrants are directed at places, too, not just … Continue reading
CA10: Nexus shown to AZ residence where additional records were found
A search of a pain management doctor’s Arizona residence was based on nexus to his Wyoming medical practice. The government showed that patient records were in both places. United States v. Khan, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 5611 (10th Cir. Feb. … Continue reading
W.D.Okla. & MA: Nexus can be shown by inference
Nexus also needs only to be shown by a “fair probability” and inference suffices. United States v. Hollis, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26387 (W.D. Okla. Feb. 11, 2021):
N.D.Ind.: Week old crime justified detention on RS
Defendant was a passenger in a car stopped and he was suspected of being involved in a shooting a week earlier. Even this old crime was sufficient for reasonable suspicion to extend the stop. United States v. Seymour, 2021 U.S. … Continue reading
E.D.N.C.: PC was shown, but not nexus, and GFE does not apply
The affidavit showed probable cause, but it completely failed to show nexus to defendant’s place. It was so deficient in the showing of nexus that the good faith exception cannot apply. United States v. King, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18956 … Continue reading
DE: Texting linked def’s cell phone to murder and was nexus for SW
“Second, the affidavits supported the Magistrate’s determination that there was a nexus between the murder and Defendant’s iPhone. The affidavits averred that Witness 2 texted Defendant throughout the day of the murder.” State v. Wilson, 2021 Del. Super. LEXIS 84 … Continue reading
MA: Planning of homicide with co-conspirator was nexus for cell phone SW
It was reasonable for the magistrate to conclude that evidence of defendant’s planning of a homicide would be on his cell phone because he communicated with co-conspirators. Therefore, nexus to the phone was shown. Commonwealth v. Snow, 2021 Mass. LEXIS … Continue reading
GA: Cell phone believed to be on def’s person at time of robbery and murder is subject for SW for evidence of the crimes
The affidavit for the warrant showed probable cause and particularity for search of defendant’s cell phone for evidence of an armed robbery and murder [essentially on the officer’s experience]. The trial court suppressed a pre-warrant search of defendant’s cell phone, … Continue reading
D.Minn.: When nexus of drugs to a residence is established, it can move with the def
If defendant moves and nexus to his residence and drugs has been established, it is a reasonable inference that the drugs went with the move. United States v. Hudson, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 246482 (D. Minn. Dec.19, 2020). “On the … Continue reading
CA3: Pro se ptf stated claim for warrantless entry into his house
The district court erred in summarily dismissing plaintiff’s case at § 1915A screening for failure to state a claim, because he did in the attempted amended complaint. “Edwards alleged that Rice lacked a search warrant when she conducted an investigation … Continue reading
OH2: Officer’s asking for consent to search before inventory doesn’t make it pretextual
“Although Officer Lindsey asked White if he (the officer) could search the vehicle prior to deciding to tow the vehicle, that question alone did not require a conclusion that the subsequent inventory search was pretextual. The Dayton Police Department tow … Continue reading
NY2: Affidavit for SW for cell phone completely failed to show PC
The affidavit for the search warrant for defendant’s cell phone completely failed to show probable cause to search it and seize photographs. People v. Boothe, 2020 NY Slip Op 07084. 2020 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 7311 (2d Dept. Nov. 25, … Continue reading
D.Neb.: PC for def’s vehicle leaving the scene of a shooting led to nexus to his house
“As explained, witnesses saw a dark colored vehicle speeding away from the scene of the May 27, 2020 shooting and at least two witnesses believe the vehicle was a Nissan. At the same time, police surveillance puts Defendant’s gray Nissan … Continue reading