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Feedspot’s Best Legal Blogs and Websites 2023-2026,
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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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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
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FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
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Stringrays (ACLU No. Cal.) (pdf)
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Congressional Research Service:
--Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
--Overview of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
--Outline of Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping (2012)
--Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping (2012)
--Federal Laws Relating to Cybersecurity: Discussion of Proposed Revisions (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: Informant hearsay
N.D.Okla.: Patdown for weapons that became an investigative search was unreasonable
Defendant concedes the basis for the stop but not the justification for a patdown. The court finds reasonable suspicion on the totality extreme (not ordinary) nervousness. But, the search was excessive, and the motion to suppress is granted. “The Court … Continue reading
CO: Opening door to confirm VIN of possible stolen car was reasonable when the dashboard VIN was covered
The officers had reasonable suspicion that the car was stolen. They exhausted all the possibilities without confirming one way or the other, and the VIN on the dashboard wasn’t visible. Opening the door to see the VIN on the door … Continue reading
W.D.N.Y.: Just because the govt can’t unlock def’s iPhone doesn’t mean he can get return of it under Rule 41(g)
Just because the government hasn’t yet accessed defendant’s iPhone because it can’t crack the code to unlock it doesn’t mean that defendant can get it back under Rule 41(g). It’s still potential evidence. United States v. Morgan, 2020 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading
N.D.Ohio: Controlled buy is PC; CI’s alleged lie isn’t Franks issue
A controlled buy was probable cause. The claim that the CI lied isn’t cognizable under Franks. United States v. Sheridan, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36163 (N.D. Ohio. Mar. 3, 2020). There were disputed questions of fact on whether it was … Continue reading
N.D.Ind.: Omitting CI’s criminal history wasn’t a Franks violation where it was obvious he was involved in criminal activity
Omission of the CI’s prior convictions wasn’t material for Franks purposes. It was obvious he was helping himself out in making penal admissions, and his credibility was otherwise shown. The issuing magistrate would have still issued the warrant. United States … Continue reading
S.D.Fla.: Tip of man brandishing a gun was more like Navarette than J.L.
“The undersigned finds that the instant case is more akin to Navarette, than J.L. Although the tipster in the instant case was completely anonymous, there was sufficient indicia of reliability, based on the totality of the circumstances, to support Officer … Continue reading
MA: “Observing” a controlled buy from outside an apartment building is not corroboration of the CI
“Observing” a controlled buy from outside an apartment building is not corroboration of the informant under the state constitution. They didn’t see what apartment was involved. Commonwealth v. Ponte, 2020 Mass. App. LEXIS 16 (Feb. 13, 2020). The area surveillance … Continue reading
CA9: Unobjected to supervised release search condition was reasonable
Defendant’s supervised release unobjected to search condition is reviewed for plain error and found reasonable from his criminal history. United States v. Oseguera, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 4350 (9th Cir. Feb. 10, 2020).* Giving deference to the state court affidavit … Continue reading
N.D.Ill.: Shotspotter’s negative report belied the anonymous CI and made reliance on the CI unreasonable
The Shotspotter’s negative report of shots fired immediately known by the police contradicted their anonymous CI and made defendant’s stop unreasonable. United States v. King, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23208 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 11, 2020). The co-occupant of defendant’s trailer … Continue reading
LA: Truck driver who phoned in report of passed out driver with gun in lap on busy NOLA bridge was not “anonymous”
Defendant was stopped and apparently passed out on the Claiborne Street bridge in New Orleans. A truck driver called in to report it and that defendant had a gun in his lap. Then an accident occurred. The trial court erred … Continue reading
S.D.Cal.: USMC spotter working with CBP didn’t violate Posse Comitatus Act
A US Marine working the border spotted a potential illegal crossing through a scope and reported it to the Border Patrol who made the stop and arrest. The Posse Comitatus Act as interpreted by the Ninth Circuit applies to the … Continue reading
CA6: Def’s volunteering to officer “he was working with a DEA agent but because his status was classified” contributed to RS
“But even assuming the officers had exceeded the time needed to handle the traffic stop, Officer Ullrich had reasonable suspicion to use the drug dog. As Officer Ullrich approached Jackson’s car after making the traffic stop, Jackson made numerous unprompted … Continue reading
S.D.Ind.: Lawyer not ineffective for not telling co-def’s counsel of a potential 4A claim
A lawyer can’t be ineffective for not raising a Fourth Amendment claim where there was no standing. In addition, he can’t be ineffective for not telling the lawyer for the person with standing about a search issue. It wouldn’t even … Continue reading
TN: Payton permitted entry to execute arrest warrant on motel room
Officers reasonably believed defendant was in a motel room, and an arrest warrant permitted entry under Payton. The observations from that went to getting a search warrant for the room. State v. Brandon, 2020 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 5 (Jan. … Continue reading
D.Neb.: The detail of a 911 call and corroboration of significant parts provided RS for a stop under Naverette
The detail of a 911 call and corroboration of significant parts provided reasonable suspicion for a stop under Naverette. United States v. Dan, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14906 (D. Neb. Jan. 13, 2020):
MA: Def’s frisk during his traffic stop was unjustified and unreasonable
The granting of defendant’s motion to suppress is affirmed. Although the stop of his vehicle was proper, his frisk was improper as was the search of his car which was based on the results of the improper frisk. Defendant’s actions … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: Explicit collective detail of three CIs was probable cause
The explicit collective detail of the three informants was probable cause. United States v. Morelock, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 225737 (N.D. Ga. Dec. 9, 2019), adopted, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12596 (N.D. Ga. Jan. 27, 2020)*:
CA2: CI’s reliability supported because he also testified under oath before warrant issued
“[The CI’s] reliability is further supported by the fact that he ‘testified under threat of the criminal sanction for perjury,’ and that his eye-witness report of the crime was incredibly detailed.” United States v. Martin, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 2738 … Continue reading
M.D.La.: Merely being a CI doesn’t make the CI a “participant” in the crime for disclosure
Merely being a CI for the police doesn’t make the CI a participant in the crime to make his or her identity subject to disclosure. United States v. Westbrook, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10563 (M.D. La. Jan. 22, 2020). The … Continue reading
ID: Def left his own door open before the dog sniff; and sniff wasn’t otherwise unreasonable
Defendant got out of his car and left the door open, so it was already open when the dog sniff occurred. Opening the door was not a command. “We decline, however, to rule that an officer’s knock on a driver’s … Continue reading