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- VA: Search incident between def’s shorts and underwear was reasonable
- 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
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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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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)
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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
CA9: Immigration arrest valid on “reason to believe” this person was an alien illegally in the U.S.
BIA petitioner’s rights were not violated because she can’t show her arrest was an egregious violation of the Fourth Amendment. “The fact that agents detained and arrested Echeverria without first establishing her identity and alienage is of no moment. All … Continue reading
FL5: State doesn’t get GFE on Birchfield where it came down day before def’s stop
Birchfield came down day before defendant’s arrest, and good faith exception isn’t applied. “Although it is understandable that a police officer might be unaware of the holding of a controlling court opinion within a day or two of its issuance, … Continue reading
IN: Frisk was justified by RS, but “ball” in pocket wasn’t plain feel
The officer was observing defendant and suspected he’d be engaged in a drug transaction. Finally there was a patdown, and in defendant’s pocket was a small ball of something, which the officer reached for. It was obvious it was not … Continue reading
N.D.Tex.: Plea of guilty without plea agreement still waives 4A challenge
Defendant made a Fourth Amendment challenge then pled to the indictment without a plea agreement. He still waives his Fourth Amendment claim because he could have appealed. Dunbar v. United States, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 217464 (N.D. Tex. Nov. 14, … Continue reading
E.D.Tenn.: Knock-and-talk wasn’t drawn out to become a seizure at def’s own door; good Franks example
That the knock-and-talk was too long drawn out to turn into a seizure is rejected. The officers testified they smelled marijuana at the door. “The Court finds Defendants’ next two contentions, that the officers’ ability to smell marijuana at the … Continue reading
Two on plain view
The officer approached a parked car that a known felon was in, and he saw a gun. “Once Buchanan saw the firearm located on the floor in the rear passenger area where a known felon had just been sitting, he … Continue reading
D.Kan.: Consent search of truck led to PC it was hauling a lot of cash; use of a drill then to try to find it was reasonable
Defendant was stopped and consented to a search of his truck. The consent search led to probable cause to believe the truck was transporting a lot of cash. Using a drill to find the cash was reasonable once there was … Continue reading
N.D.Tex.: Not material to not mention def’s state of mind hours before the occurrence
Defendant claimed a Franks violation from the officer’s failure to include things that were true about defendant before things went south that night. It wasn’t material to defendant’s state of mind at the time of the occurrence. United States v. … Continue reading
D.D.C.: When serving SW in sex assault investigation where def was known to be a felon, a Glock speed loader in plain view permitted search for a gun
D.C. Metro police had a search warrant for evidence of a sexual assault. When they entered, they saw a Glock magazine speed loader. That caused them to search for a firearm because they knew defendant was a felon learning, that … Continue reading
N.D.Miss.: Uncontradicted testimony that a DL checkpoint was validly set up makes checkpoint valid; plain view sustained
The state set up a driver’s license and safety checkpoint, and defendant was stopped there. He doesn’t contradict the officer’s testimony that it was set up by supervisory persons and was limited in time and scope. The stop was thus … Continue reading
KY: “Plain smell” is longstanding, derives from plain view, and it won’t be reconsidered
The “plain smell” doctrine is longstanding, derives from plain view, and this court declines to resubmit the case for en banc review to reconsider it in the context of smell of marijuana in the car extending to the person in … Continue reading
E.D.Wash.: Def’s Franks claim is barred on habeas where he knew of it all along
Defendant in his 2255 alleges a Franks violation, but he had the ability and method to do it in the district court before conviction and habeas isn’t the place. United States v. Youker, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 196001 (E.D. Wash. … Continue reading
KY: Illegal cell phone search is harmless where nothing used at trial from the phones
The apparently unconstitutional searches of defendant’s cell phones were harmless beyond a reasonable doubt when nothing was used from them. Ward v. Commonwealth, 2019 Ky. LEXIS 433 (Oct. 31, 2019).* In defendant’s traffic stop for not stopping at the stop … Continue reading
E.D.Pa.: Protective sweep was properly limited and cell phones in plain view could be seized if it was readily apparent they were evidence
The officers’ protective sweep was justified by the facts, and it was constrained to areas large enough to hide a person. In plain view were two cell phones that were properly seized and then later searched with a warrant. United … Continue reading
N.D.Ind.: Arrest outside motel room still permitted protective sweep where there was RS someone else was there
Defendant was arrested outside his motel room, but that did not bar a protective sweep of the motel room where the officers had reason to believe others could be present. Baldwin v. United States, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 175253 (N.D. … Continue reading
M.D.Fla.: Possession of a large quantity of drugs in car after just leaving house shows nexus to house for drugs
“‘A search warrant affidavit need not allege that unlawful activity occurred at the place to be searched; the affidavit need only establish a nexus between the place and the criminal activity.’ United States v. McCown, 762 F. App’x 732, 734 … Continue reading
D.Nev.: Govt’s stated intent to forfeit requires motion for return of property be denied
Motion for return of property seized five weeks ago is denied. The government will image electronics and return them. That which is subject to forfeiture has to await it. United States v. Wells, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 168017 (D. Nev. … Continue reading
N.D.Fla.: No 4A requirement a car left in a parking lot on def’s arrest couldn’t be towed and inventoried
The driver of the vehicle was a serial violator of the state statute on driving on a suspended license. When he was caught this time, the vehicle was on a parking lot and the officer elected to have it towed, … Continue reading
D.Minn.: Car being stuck in snow and key fob not there doesn’t nullify application of the automobile exception
A car stuck in the snow at the end of the alley and defendant without the key fob is still mobile for the automobile exception. “Any temporary loss of mobility is insufficient to take Williams’s case outside the automobile exception.” … Continue reading