Archives
-
Recent Posts
- N.D.Tex.: AUSA can summarize what the gov’t knows for SW application
- S.D.N.Y.: No right to quash SCA warrant before execution; remedies are after
- S.D.N.Y.: SW not based on mere speculation
- D.Mont.: Officers had RS for stop; it wasn’t based on the race of the suspects
- M.D.Pa.: SW for phone 19 months after alleged crimes showed PC
-
-
ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2015-17) (then discontinued)
-
-
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) -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fourth Amendment cases, citations, and links -
Latest Slip Opinions:
U.S. Supreme Court (Home)
S.Ct. Shadow Docket Database
Federal Appellate Courts Opinions
First Circuit
Second Circuit
Third Circuit
Fourth Circuit
Fifth Circuit
Sixth Circuit
Seventh Circuit
Eighth Circuit
Ninth Circuit
Tenth Circuit
Eleventh Circuit
D.C. Circuit
Federal Circuit
Foreign Intell.Surv.Ct.
FDsys, many district courts, other federal courts
Military Courts: C.A.A.F., Army, AF, N-M, CG, SF
State courts (and some USDC opinions)
Google Scholar
Advanced Google Scholar
Google search tips
LexisWeb
LII State Appellate Courts
LexisONE free caselaw
Findlaw Free Opinions
To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
Research Links:
Supreme Court:
SCOTUSBlog
S. Ct. Docket
Solicitor General's site
SCOTUSreport
Briefs online (but no amicus briefs)
Oyez Project (NWU)
"On the Docket"–Medill
S.Ct. Monitor: Law.com
S.Ct. Com't'ry: Law.com
-
General (many free):
LexisWeb
Google Scholar | Google
LexisOne Legal Website Directory
Crimelynx
Lexis.com $
Lexis.com (criminal law/ 4th Amd) $
Findlaw.com
Findlaw.com (4th Amd)
Westlaw.com $
F.R.Crim.P. 41
www.fd.org
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
DEA Agents Manual (2002) (download)
DOJ Computer Search Manual (2009) (pdf)
Stringrays (ACLU No. Cal.) (pdf)
-
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)
ACLU on privacy
Privacy Foundation
Electronic Frontier Foundation
NACDL’s Domestic Drone Information Center
Electronic Privacy Information Center
Criminal Appeal (post-conviction) (9th Cir.)
Section 1983 Blog -
"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, 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: Cell phones
D.P.R.: A cell phone found with drugs had its incriminating nature immediately apparent for plain view
A cell phone found with drugs had its incriminating nature immediately apparent for plain view. United States v. Fernandez-Santos, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 121462 (D.P.R. July 8, 2024). In an illegal entry case, identification evidence allegedly illegally seized is not … Continue reading
NY3: SW for evidence of robbery (stolen property and mask) found def’s cell phone with image of him wearing the mask on its wallpaper
A search warrant in a robbery case looked for stolen property and the mask involved. When police executed the warrant, they found his cell phone with him wearing the mask as the wallpaper image on the phone. “We find without … Continue reading
NY4: Cell phone SW suppressed for no showing of PC or particularity
“Here, the search warrant authorized and directed the police to search for, inter alia, ‘cellular phones (including contents)’ located in defendant’s vehicle. Significantly, the search was not restricted by reference to any particular crime. Thus, the search warrant failed to … Continue reading
DE: Def counsel’s failure to challenge PC and particularity in cell phone search warrants post-conviction relief
Defendant sufficiently stated grounds for ineffective assistance of counsel from defense counsel’s failure to challenge the search warrant for lack of probable cause and particularity. “Postconviction relief due to ineffectiveness of counsel must be granted in circumstances where the Court … Continue reading
NC: Wife had sufficient common authority over cell phone to consent to seizure and search
Defendant allowed his cell phone to be used by everyone in the family, including his child to watch YouTube videos. His wife had sufficient common authority to consent to a seizure and search. State v. Duran-Rivas, 2024 N.C. App. LEXIS … Continue reading
CA10: State SW for place in Indian country was done in good faith and is not suppressed
A state search warrant issued by a Tulsa state judge for a place in Indian country was done in good faith at the time under McGirt and would not be suppressed. United States v. Bailey, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 15210 … Continue reading
Reason: Baltimore Brings Back Controversial Cellphone Hacking System
Reason: Baltimore Brings Back Controversial Cellphone Hacking System by Matthew Petti (“Cellebrite is a dream come true for police surveillance. Plug in any cellphone, even a locked one, and get a full report of every file on its hard drive. … Continue reading
W.D.Ky.: State law alleged defects in warrant process not applicable in federal court without showing why suppression is an appropriate remedy
A state search warrant was used to prosecute in federal court. Defendant raised numerous state law defects to the warrant that did not constitute Fourth Amendment violations. “Even if these warrants were procedurally deficient under state law, Gray has supplied … Continue reading
E.D.N.Y.: There was RS for def’s border cell phone search for drug importation
While the law isn’t completely clear on the justification for a cell phone search at the border, the justification for either standard is satisfied. There was clearly reasonable suspicion of drug importing at JFK for search of his cell phone. … Continue reading
D.Minn.: Parole cell phone search under MN law was reasonable under 4A
Defendant’s parole cell phone search under Minnesota law was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Guevara, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100403 (D. Minn. June 6, 2024). Driving one’s car to controlled buys gives probable cause for the vehicle. … Continue reading
S.D.Ind.: GFE of law at the time of the search meant no IAC
“Counsel did not perform deficiently when they raised the Fourth Amendment argument [under applicable law at the time], even though this Court and the Seventh Circuit found that the good faith applied.” Castro-Aguirre v. United States, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading
Cal.1: GFE applied to probation search term
The good faith exception applied to defendant’s probation search. The officer checked and reasonably concluded that defendant was still on searchable probation at the time. People v. Pritchett, 2024 Cal. App. LEXIS 348 (1st Dist. May 8, 2024), certified for … Continue reading
D.Nev.: A website’s cookies linked def’s personal email address for nexus
In a criminal copyright case, cookies on website led to defendant’s business and personal email accounts, and that gave nexus to them for the warrant. “Under the totality of the circumstances, the Court finds that the search warrant reveals a … Continue reading
C.D.Cal.: PC not shown for Jan. 6th target’s cell phone in California three years later
The government sought search warrants for cell phones in California in 2024 for six alleged misdemeanors at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The court finds no probable cause to believe that there is evidence on the phones three … Continue reading
OH5: Cell phone SW was not particular, GFE doesn’t apply, but harmless after all
The cell phone search warrant here failed particularity: “permitted a sweeping, comprehensive search of Hikec’s cell phone with no meaningful limits”, and the good faith exception doesn’t apply. On this record, however, it was harmless error in light of other … Continue reading
MA: Cell phone call logs don’t require a search warrant
Cell phone call logs don’t require a search warrant to get them. “Despite the narrowing of the third-party doctrine in other contexts, it remains applicable to call detail records. Notwithstanding recent technological changes, the phone numbers an individual dials are … Continue reading
LA5: No standing to challenge search of shooting victim’s cell phone in def’s possession
Defendant lacked standing to challenge the search of his shooting victim’s cell phone. Also, by statute the search of the phone more than 10 days after seizure was reasonable. State v. Lowry, 2024 La. App. LEXIS 804 (La. App. 5 … Continue reading