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- MO: Initial bail setting under Gerstein not adversarial
- D.Alaska: Protective sweep after def’s arrest not justified, but there was exigency otherwise
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- FL3: Cell phone dump in civil case denied; no showing of need
- E.D.Va.: Must plead prejudice when delay of a cell phone SW is alleged
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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2017); ABA Journal Blawg 100 (2015-16) (discontinued 2018)
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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 -
© 2003-24,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 425,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 45,000 posts since 2003 (26,730+ on WordPress as of 12/31/23) -
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--Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
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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 -
"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!”
---Pepé Le Pew "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)
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Category Archives: Excessive force
E.D.Ark.: Def’s statements disassociating himself from the premises searched showed no standing
Defendant had some connection to the premises, but his disassociation from the premises when asked about it by the police showed his lack of standing. “To resolve his motion to suppress, however, the Court need not determine whether these possessory … Continue reading
NY Richmond Co.: PC without including protective sweep
“These facts alone, without taking the protective sweep into consideration, would have provided a magistrate with probable cause to issue a search warrant. A sworn statement of an identified member of the community attesting to facts directly and personally observed … Continue reading
E.D.Tenn.: Finding ammo not matching seized firearm justifies further search
Officers finding ammunition from a different caliber gun than the one found justifies a further search. United States v. Berry, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 98684 (E.D.Tenn. May 3, 2022), adopted, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 98639 (E.D.Tenn. June 2, 2022). Plaintiff’s … Continue reading
D.Ore.: Officer may be cross-examined at trial over contents of SW affidavit if relevant
“The Court denies the Government’s motion to prohibit Defendant from cross-examining IRS Special Agent Jason Nix on his sworn statements contained in a search warrant application. See ECF 100 at 13-15. Defendant may cross examine Special Agent Nix regarding any … Continue reading
WaPo: Florida sheriff’s deputy uses Taser at gas station, setting man on fire
WaPo: Florida sheriff’s deputy uses Taser at gas station, setting man on fire by Lindsey Bever (“A Florida sheriff’s deputy is facing a criminal charge after using a Taser near gasoline, igniting a fire that severely burned a 26-year-old suspect … Continue reading
CA10: Pepper spraying a subdued misdemeanant was unreasonable; no QI
“Addressing the two prongs of qualified immunity below, we conclude that the use of pepper spray violated Mr. Wilkins’s clearly established right to be free from the additional use of force after he was effectively subdued. The officers were not … Continue reading
D.Me.: Settled law at the time means exclusionary rule not applied, even if the law was later changing
Officers relied on settled law in this circuit that the search incident was valid. Maybe it wouldn’t be later, but it was at the time. The exclusionary rule should not be applied under Davis. “Given the similarity of these two … Continue reading
E.D.Ark.: City’s court order made clean up and removal of ptf’s property reasonable
Plaintiff was told for years to clean up his property from unsightly construction materials and equipment. After many failed efforts to get him to do so, the city obtained a court order to remove the property. It removed nine trailerloads … Continue reading
CA6: All family members have common authority over common areas of the house
All family members have common authority over common areas of the house. United States v. Campany, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 9518 (6th Cir. Apr. 8, 2022). Defendant’s Franks claim for ineffective assistance of counsel fails for failing to show what … Continue reading
CA9: PC of digital theft from Microsoft by employee also led to his home computer
There was probable cause to believe that defendant’s home computer would have evidence of his $10m digital theft from Microsoft from when he worked there. United States v. Kvashuk, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 8275 (9th Cir. Mar. 28, 2022).* There … Continue reading
CA3: “[R]easonableness [of force] under the Fourth Amendment should frequently remain a question for the jury”
“Given the totality of the circumstances, the District Court erred in concluding as a matter of law that the use of force was objectively reasonable. See Giles v. Kearney, 571 F.3d 318, 327 n.4 (3d Cir. 2009) (denying summary judgment … Continue reading
PA: No apparent authority that def’s mother, a visitor outside, could consent to search
There was no apparent authority for defendant’s mother to consent to police entry. They knew she was a mere visitor herself, and she offered to let them in. She was not inside; she just came up when they were there. … Continue reading
A few § 1983 cases on QI and summary judgment
Ordering plaintiff out of the Sheriff’s Office lobby for fear of disruption was novel as a potential seizure and that’s subject to qualified immunity. “Sheriff Crone’s conduct in ordering Mr. Brandt to leave the lobby due to a perceived disruption … Continue reading
HI: Announcement not required for SW execution on open tent
Officers had a search warrant for a tent in a homeless encampment. Announcement before entry wasn’t required where the tent was not shut. State v. Keanaaina, 2022 Haw. LEXIS 44 (Mar. 22, 2022). Officers encountered defendant’s car double parked on … Continue reading
Denver7: Federal jury awards $14 million to protesters injured in 2020 demonstrations in Denver
Denver7: Federal jury awards $14 million to protesters injured in 2020 demonstrations in Denver (“Jury finds First, Fourth amendment violations of protesters by police”)
CA9: Two on QI: pepper spraying and Tasering
Officer denied qualified immunity for pepper-spraying a non-violent protester in the face. “In sum, every reasonable officer had notice at the time of the incident that, if reasonable alternatives are available, even in somewhat chaotic circumstances, he or she cannot … Continue reading