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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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"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: Knock and announce
HI: Repeated announcement outside tent before entry with SW satisfied knock-and-announce requirement; def was hearing impaired and slept through it
Defendant lived in a park in a “tent,” under a tarp with gaps that officers could somewhat see inside. Officers had a search warrant and they announced loudly several times their office and purpose. There was no door to knock … Continue reading
CA4: Ptf shot and paralyzed during no-knock raid states a claim and survives QI
During a no-knock entry with a battering ram by plain-clothes officers for marijuana, plaintiff heard a commotion from the back of his house, reached for a gun, and was shot at 29 times, hit 9 times, and paralyzed. The officer … Continue reading
The Appeal: ‘No Knock’ Warrants Spur Wave of Civil Rights Lawsuits in Little Rock
The Appeal: ‘No Knock’ Warrants Spur Wave of Civil Rights Lawsuits in Little Rock by Joshua Vaughan: “Police are accused of lying to obtain the warrants to conduct military-style raids on the homes of poor people and people of color.”
S.D.Ga.: Lack of announcement doesn’t invoke exclusionary rule; def argued he was entitled to announcement to be able to dispose of his drugs
Defendant claims his search was invalid for lack of knock-and-announce because, if they had announced, he could have destroyed the drugs and wouldn’t have been charged [apparently oblivious to the fact that’s one of the justification for dispensing with announcement]. … Continue reading
CA5: SWAT team’s firefight after failure to comply with basic no-knock requirements denies them qualified immunity
SWAT team’s violation of basic elements of no-knock of 1997’s Richards get no qualified immunity in the firefight that followed their unreasonable entry. Fact questions remain for excessive force as well. Geiger v. Sloan, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 23849 (5th … Continue reading
CA8: Failure to knock-and-announce not a suppression issue
“[T]he officers’ alleged violation of the knock-and-announce rule had nothing to do with their seizure of the gun, drugs, and cash in Diaz-Ortiz’s hotel room pursuant to their search warrant.” Relief is barred by Hudson. United States v. Diaz-Ortiz, 2019 … Continue reading
CA8: Lack of knock-and-announce for parole search gets QI despite fact no case says it’s lawful; no “robust consensus of cases of persuasive authority”
Plaintiff absconded parolee was subjected to an unannounced entry into his hotel room about 6 am for a parole search. He was in bed with his girlfriend and a gun. The Arkansas Supreme Court held the entry violated the Fourth … Continue reading
MT: Knock-and-announce is a part of the reasonableness requirement; prior judicial authorization not required because it depends on exigency at scene
No-knock doesn’t have to be authorized by the issuing magistrate. Cause for a no-knock can be developed at the scene from the officer’s determination of exigency for justification for a no-knock. “Montana law does not also require judges to determine … Continue reading
CA9: Ptf’s affidavit there was no announcement before battering ram broke in her door makes her civil case survive summary judgment
Plaintiff showed enough of a fact question that officers never announced they were attempting to enter on a search warrant, breaking in her door, to survive their motion for summary judgment. They said, she said. Greiner v. Wall, 2019 U.S. … Continue reading
CA9: Whether state officers violated state law in the search doesn’t matter in federal court under the 4A
Defendant argues that the officers violated Washington state law in his search and seizure. That doesn’t matter in federal court. United States v. Dauenhauer, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 34797 (9th Cir. Dec. 11, 2018). Under Hudson, “The federal exclusionary rule, … Continue reading
MA: Justification for no-knock shown by risk of destruction of evidence because def’s apartment on 3d floor with locked outside door
A no-knock entry to prevent destruction of evidence was justified by the fact defendant’s apartment was on the third floor and police had to navigate a locked first floor door before they got to his apartment. Commonwealth v. Silva, 2018 … Continue reading
N.D.Ind.: Court can’t exclude for knock-and-announce failure
Failure to properly knock-and-announce is foreclosed as a reason for exclusion under Hudson v. Michigan. United States v. Calligan, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 173193 (N.D. Ind. Oct. 9, 2018). 2255 petitioner was not prejudiced by defense counsel’s failure to challenge … Continue reading
D.S.C.: Delegating to Drug Enforcement Unit how it executes no-knocks was municipal policy, MSJ denied
The Drug Enforcement Unit’s de facto policy not to properly knock-and-announce as a municipal policy survive defendants’ motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff was rendered a paraplegic during the no-knock entry. Plaintiff alleged that the DEU essentially failed to knock-and-announce at … Continue reading
D.Conn.: Knock-and-announce was complied with, but def also well knew they were there and what for
First, knock and announce was complied with. The officers testified credibly they announced repeatedly as they approached. Second, even if they didn’t, exigency or futility would be an exception–futile because defendant was well aware of their presence. There was also … Continue reading
CA9: Shaving a spot on cattle to look at a brand doesn’t violate 4A
Shaving a spot on cattle to look at a brand doesn’t violate the Fourth Amendment. [Actually, nowhere does anything say that so qualified immunity must apply. The case doesn’t say that, but that’s the bottom line.] Gillette v. Malheur County, … Continue reading
WaPo: ‘The Watch’ Blog: A South Carolina anti-drug police unit admitted it conducts illegal no-knock raids
WaPo: ‘The Watch’ Blog: A South Carolina anti-drug police unit admitted it conducts illegal no-knock raids by Radley Balko. “Yet local officials don’t seem to mind.” The case: Despite officers’ deposition testimony that they announced before entry shooting plaintiff nine … Continue reading
E.D.Ky.: Entry for protective sweep with gun drawn wasn’t per se a “forceful entry”; announcement unnecessary
The officer in this case did not have to knock-and-announce to make a protective sweep after defendant was arrested. The officer testified that he did. Entering with gun drawn doesn’t make it a “forceful entry.” United States v. Israel, 2018 … Continue reading
CA6: No knock entry at 4 am stated claim for unreasonable execution of SW
Plaintiffs adequately allege a claim for unreasonable execution of a search warrant. The officers executed a search warrant at 4 am without knocking or announcing, and shot the lock off the door. Greer v. City of Highland Park, 2018 U.S. … Continue reading
TN: Where BAC forensic testing budget depends on convictions, due process violated
A state fee for forensic testing of BAC in the TBI that depends on convictions is essentially a contingent fee for conviction. The TBI forensic team are not adjudicators in the Tumey–Ward due process analysis, but it is clear that … Continue reading
Today is [or maybe] the 414th anniversay of Semayne’s Case and judicial recognition of knock-and-announce and the castle doctrine
Today (as best as can be determined) is the 414th anniversary of Semayne’s Case recognizing both knock-and-announce and the castle doctrine at common law. Back then, the dates of decisions weren’t as important and they appeared in reporters well after … Continue reading