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- Reason: Border Cops Seize Nurse’s Phone Filled With Psychiatric Patient Information
- MI: Handcuffing uncooperative def at scene of accident wasn’t unreasonable
- S.D.Ga.: Def’s car in driveway next to sidewalk was not on curtilage
- S.D.Ind.: Post search database search of occupants of a place didn’t show SW affidavit was false at time it issued
- Cal.6: Robbery scheme that hadn’t yet resulted in gunfire wasn’t exigency for real time ping
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Feedspot’s Best Legal Blogs and Websites 2023-2026,
also, firm website Top 90 Criminal Law Blogs 2026 -
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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: Plain view, feel, smell
WaPo: U.S. Capitol Police rejects GOP congressman’s claim that check of his open office is illegal investigation
WaPo: U.S. Capitol Police rejects GOP congressman’s claim that check of his open office is illegal investigation (“Chief Tom Manger said a Capitol Police officer entered Rep. Troy E. Nehls’s office in November because the door was left ‘open and … Continue reading
TX: Exclusionary rule is statutory and harmless error analysis required
The Texas exclusionary rule is statutory and not a constitutional remedy since 1922. Thus, harmless error analysis is required, and the case remanded for that. Holder v. State, 2022 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 72 (Feb. 2, 2022). “Accordingly, under the … Continue reading
CA9: Govt “tucked” independent source argument into another and then abandoned it for years; not fully developed
The government’s independent source argument was (1) tucked into another argument and then not fully developed, and (2) then essentially abandoned for years during the litigation. It was not fully developed. United States v. Osborne, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 2682 … Continue reading
E.D.Tenn.: Smell of raw marijuana on def’s clothes supported PC it was in car
The officer testified that he first smelled raw marijuana about a minute into the stop. When he got defendant into the patrol car, he could smell it on defendant’s person. That was probable cause for a search of the car … Continue reading
M.D.Pa.: Stopping UPS truck for dog sniff of packages wasn’t unreasonable
Of two coconspirators in a package containing drugs, the named sender has standing but the coconspirator does not. Stopping the UPS truck for a dog sniff of the packages did not interfere with any reasonable expectation of privacy. Besides, there … Continue reading
MS: Open fields covered by state const.; warrant required for administrative search
A warrant is required for administrative searches under the Mississippi constitution, which also protects all land owned by the complainant, including open fields. Plain view is inapplicable here. The exclusionary rule applies to this administrative search and seizure. Okhuysen v. … Continue reading
E.D.Cal.: Garnishment of wages is not a 4A seizure
Garnishment of wages is not a Fourth Amendment seizure. Williams v. Drakaina Logistics, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 248750 (E.D.Cal. Dec. 30, 2021). Defendant’s property was seized on exigency after an apparent crime, and seizure was required to prevent destruction. United … Continue reading
TX5: Knowledge def regularly deleted info from cell phone was exigency for seizure
The officers had information that defendant routinely deleted information from his call logs and text messages. That was exigency for a warrantless seizure of the phone. A later warrant was obtained for the phone. Veal v. State, 2021 Tex. App. … Continue reading
OH11: Plain view during FD response to fire leading to call to police was reasonable
Defendant’s house burned in a fire, and the fire investigator came in before the firemen left. Drugs were found in plain view and in a safe with an open door. The trial court suppressed, but the court of appeals reversed. … Continue reading
UT: Material change in circumstances found before warrant served should go back to magistrate, but this wasn’t material
Defendant was suspected of attempted video voyeurism, and a search warrant was issued for his gray cell phone. Shortly thereafter, it was discovered that was the wrong phone because it was a white one. Under plain error review, the warrant … Continue reading
S.D.W.Va.: Court doesn’t believe plain view was possible
The gun under defendant’s pickup truck seat at knee high was not visible to the officer standing outside the truck looking down. The picture in the record belies it, so the officer isn’t credible. Suppressed. United States v. Bumgarner, 2021 … Continue reading
N.D.Ill.: There can’t be a pretextual SW for a plain view; it’s objectively reasonable or not
Court rejects claim that search warrant could be pretextual to seize something else in plain view. That’s a foray into subjective intent the court won’t do. United States v. Contreras, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 242185 (N.D.Ill. Dec. 20, 2021):
Cal.2d: Unconscious driver’s serious injury was exigency for warrantless blood draw
“When a driver is unconscious, the general rule is a warrant is not needed. (Mitchell, supra, 139 S.Ct. at p. 2531.) The Fourth Amendment “almost always” permits a warrantless blood test when police officers do not have a reasonable opportunity … Continue reading
CA6: Looking under bed in a protective sweep still was plain view
The officer had to kneel down to look under defendant’s bed in a protective sweep, and he saw a gun. The gun was still in plain view, and the officer was legitimately in place. United States v. Fields, 2021 U.S. … Continue reading
LA5: Two CIs provided RS for def’s vehicle stop without need for traffic offense
The trial court’s denial of suppress is affirmed. There were two CIs. One provided details about defendant’s drug operation and the places and vehicles involved. The other provided predictive information that panned out. By the time defendant’s vehicle was stopped, … Continue reading
N.D.Tex.: Syringe in back pocket was in plain view
The court finds the syringe in defendant’s back pocket was in plain view. United States v. Riggins, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 224594 (N.D.Tex. Nov. 22, 2021).* Defendant’s stop wasn’t unreasonably prolonged, so the dash and bodycam videos are not suppressed. … Continue reading
N.D.Ind.: Arrestee left out in cold in t-shirt stated 4A claim
Plaintiff states a Fourth Amendment claim that he was arrested and left outside in the snow in jeans and a t-shirt for more than 30 minutes. Bolin v. Prater, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 225777 (N.D.Ind. Nov. 23, 2021). Leaving drugs … Continue reading
CO: In a MJ recreational use state, a dog alert on a car doesn’t discriminate between legal and illegal drugs and violates privacy
Possession of small quantities of marijuana is legal in Colorado. Where the drug dog doesn’t discriminate between marijuana and other drugs, a dog alert can be an unreasonable search for a legal substance. Therefore, the district court did not err … Continue reading
D.Conn.: Protective sweep led to seizure of cell phone in plain view
Officers conducted a valid protective sweep and found defendant’s cell phone. It was seized in plain view, and then a search warrant was obtained for it. All searches were valid. United States v. Salaman, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 219785 (D.Conn. … Continue reading