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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2017); ABA Journal Blawg 100 (2015-16) (discontinued 2018)
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© 2003-22,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 350,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 40,000 posts since 2003~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fourth Amendment cases,
citations, and linksLatest Slip Opinions:
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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $Research Links:
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Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
DEA Agents Manual (2002) (download)
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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
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NACDL’s Domestic Drone Information Center
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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“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!”
"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."
---Pepé Le Pew
—Johnson v. United States, 333 U.S. 10, 13-14 (1948)
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Category Archives: Arrest or entry on arrest
E.D.Tenn.: There is no standing in CSLI of another’s phone
No standing to challenge acquiring the CSLI of another’s cell phone. United States v. Lopez, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 215709 (E.D. Tenn. Oct. 24, 2022),* adopted, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 214604 (E.D. Tenn. Nov. 29, 2022).* Defendant’s guilty plea waived … Continue reading
SC: Exigency for CSLI was shooting victim left for dead and defendant was armed and dangerous
There was exigency for CSLI. “Thus, this was not a standard criminal investigation seeking cell phone data; rather, this request sought to address an ongoing emergency because Carter was potentially armed and dangerous, had been involved in a violent crime … Continue reading
CA3: Delaware “hit and hold” practice for entries not decided because of consent
The court declines to decide the officers’ “hit and hold” entries where they entered without a warrant but under alleged exigency, secured the premises, and then sought a search warrant. Because there was independent justification for the warrantless search after … Continue reading
D.Mass.: Park ranger’s arrest of def outside park wasn’t 4A violation, even if statute violated
“Ruiz argues that, because Carozzi lacked the statutory authority to arrest him outside the park, the arrest violated his Fourth Amendment rights, and therefore all evidence collected subsequent to his arrest (i.e., the breathalyzer results) must be suppressed. In the … Continue reading
D.S.D.: Totality of circumstances showed def likely resided in dwelling for entry on arrest warrant
Based on the totality of circumstances, officers finally had good reason to believe defendant resided in the dwelling he was found in, and the arrest warrant alone was enough to justify entry. United States v. Ulrich, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading
HI: Three weeks detention after finding of PC without another court proceeding wasn’t unreasonable
It was not a Fourth Amendment violation to hold defendant for a grand jury indictment when probable cause was found “after a preliminary hearing but the case is dismissed without prejudice due to a defect in the institution of the … Continue reading
CA6: Seeing person named in arrest warrant at place she was staying satisfied Payton
Officers had sufficient information under Payton that a woman for whom they had a warrant was on the premises she was supposedly living at when they entered. They’d seen her there, and CIs put her there. United States v. Essex, … Continue reading
WV: Juvenile “pick-up” order issued on PC was equivalent of warrant for Payton purposes for entry into mom’s home
Entry on a juvenile “pick-up” order here “was founded upon probable cause to believe that her ‘health, safety and welfare’ demanded it …. was the functional equivalent of an arrest warrant and was lawfully issued.” Therefore, the entry was valid … Continue reading
ID: Not telling arrestee reason for arrest in violation of statute not a 4A violation
Failure to notify an arrestee of the reason for his arrest in violation of the statute does not make the arrest violate the Fourth Amendment or state constitution. State v. Lancaster, 2022 Ida. LEXIS 133 (Nov. 1, 2022). There were … Continue reading
Courthouse News Service: Right to livestream traffic stops debated at Fourth Circuit
Courthouse News Service: Right to livestream traffic stops debated at Fourth Circuit by Erika Williams (“A shouting match erupted between a judge and an attorney at a hearing over whether passengers in cars pulled over by police can broadcast their … Continue reading
IN: Male occupant’s consent to search his house didn’t include the purse of a woman that lived there
Male occupant’s consent to search his house didn’t include the purse of a woman that lived there. The officer could not reasonably believe that he had apparent authority over that. Cinamon v. State, 2022 Ind. App. LEXIS 345 (Oct. 25, … Continue reading
N.D.Okla.: Local officer’s arresting in Indian country prior to McGirt was with good faith
A local officer’s arrest of an Indian in Indian country prior to McGirt was with good faith. United States v. Little, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 192907 (N.D. Okla. Oct. 24, 2022). Drug interdiction officers working the Detroit Greyhound station because … Continue reading
VI: Anonymous tip given observing altercation was sufficient for stop when substantially corroborated at scene
The detailed anonymous tip here was sufficient to support a stop when it was substantially corroborated at the scene. The caller observed an altercation in real time and described the two vehicles involved. It was at the top of a … Continue reading
CA7: 4½ days to figure out ptf was innocent didn’t violate 4A or 14A
“Eli Martinez spent four and a half days in custody while he tried to explain to his jailers that his brother, Hector M. Rodriguez, was the one described in an arrest warrant. After Martinez was released, he sued two probation … Continue reading
OH8: No PC for hot pursuit into house on less than RS
The state showed no probable cause to justify a warrantless entry into the home of a fleeing misdemeanant. Police got a citizen’s report of a possible impaired driver. When they found the car, it had just pulled into the driveway … Continue reading
TX1: Order to return cell phone in murder investigation was without jurisdiction
The trial court’s order ordering return of a cell phone seized in a murder investigation was void and reversed. “‘Suppression of evidence and return of property are not the same relief.’” Defendant had not yet been indicted, so the trial … Continue reading
OH6: Consent to search cell phone obtained by telling def it would get his phone back sooner was involuntary
Defendant’s consent to search his phone was merely acquiescing to a claim of lawful authority because it was told if he consented he could get it back faster. State v. Seem, 2022-Ohio-3507, 2022 Ohio App. LEXIS 3314 (6th Dist. Sep. … Continue reading
OH9: Def opened a safe for the police but never argued he had a REP in the contents so no standing
Defendant opened a safe for the officers. His wife said that it was hers and she had it before they were married. Defendant didn’t even argue he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the safe. Therefore, he didn’t show … Continue reading
