Archives
-
Recent Posts
- LA4: Merely having a concealed firearm isn’t RS for a frisk
- OR: Merely driving off the road wasn’t RS, but adding the driver’s demeanor at the time was
- OH6: Trial court’s failure to explain RS under Rodriguez required remand
- CA6: Asking def before a patdown during arrest what he had on him wasn’t barred by Miranda
- NY Queens: PC shown for SW blood drawn at hospital after car wreck
-
-
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 -
© 2003-24,
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) -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fourth Amendment cases,
citations, and links -
Latest Slip Opinions:
U.S. Supreme Court (Home)
Federal Appellate Courts Opinions
First Circuit
Second Circuit
Third Circuit
Fourth Circuit
Fifth Circuit
Sixth Circuit
Seventh Circuit
Eighth Circuit
Ninth Circuit
Tenth Circuit
Eleventh Circuit
D.C. Circuit
Federal Circuit
Foreign Intell.Surv.Ct.
FDsys, many district courts, other federal courts
Military Courts: C.A.A.F., Army, AF, N-M, CG, SF
State courts (and some USDC opinions)
Google Scholar
Advanced Google Scholar
Google search tips
LexisWeb
LII State Appellate Courts
LexisONE free caselaw
Findlaw Free Opinions
To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
Research Links:
Supreme Court:
SCOTUSBlog
S. Ct. Docket
Solicitor General's site
SCOTUSreport
Briefs online (but no amicus briefs)
Oyez Project (NWU)
"On the Docket"–Medill
S.Ct. Monitor: Law.com
S.Ct. Com't'ry: Law.com
-
General (many free):
LexisWeb
Google Scholar | Google
LexisOne Legal Website Directory
Crimelynx
Lexis.com $
Lexis.com (criminal law/ 4th Amd) $
Findlaw.com
Findlaw.com (4th Amd)
Westlaw.com $
F.R.Crim.P. 41
www.fd.org
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
DEA Agents Manual (2002) (download)
DOJ Computer Search Manual (2009) (pdf)
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
Privacy Foundation
Electronic Frontier Foundation
NACDL’s Domestic Drone Information Center
Electronic Privacy Information Center
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 -
"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)
Website design by Wally Waller, Little Rock 
Category Archives: Attenuation
S.D.N.Y.: Protective sweep of small apt loft was valid
A protective sweep of even a small apartment’s loft and closet is valid. Plain view sustained. United States v. Green, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 206238 (S.D. N.Y. Dec. 6, 2018).* The search issue is not dispositive of the case because … Continue reading
CA4: Unlawfully placing GPS on def’s car was flagrant 4A violation; no attenuation found
The government unlawfully placed a GPS device on defendant’s car and two days later stopped him. It argued in the district court a lack of standing, which prevailed there, and then conceded they were wrong on appeal. The constitutional violation … Continue reading
IN recognizes attenuation doctrine under state constitution’s exclusionary rule.
Indiana recognizes attenuation doctrine under state constitution’s exclusionary rule. Wright v. State, 2018 Ind. LEXIS 565 (Oct. 4, 2018):
S.D.Cal.: Cell phone was validly searched under border search exception; obtaining passcode was likely unlawful, but government isn’t going to use it
Defendant was arrested at Calexico for importing meth. While in the holding cell, she gave up the password for the cell phone. The government isn’t going to use her revealing the password as evidence, but it wants to use the … Continue reading
MD: Stop-and-frisk might have been invalid, but def fled and that made it valid
Defendant was arguably subjected to an invalid stop and frisk, but his flight was an intervening circumstance supporting finding the gun. Thornton v. State, 2018 Md. App. LEXIS 716 (July 25, 2018). “The testimony at the suppression hearing demonstrated that … Continue reading
S.D.Ga.: CI information was a little stale, but the officer’s corroroboration was with current information and that overcame staleness
The CI’s information was a little dated and potentially stale, but it was corroborated by current information and that was probable cause. United States v. Mobley, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101640 (S.D. Ga. June 18, 2018). “In this case, by … Continue reading
E.D.Cal.: Prison inmate states 4A claim for digital rectal search in front of other inmates
Plaintiff prison inmate states a claim for a digital search in front of other inmates. Fuentes v. Cal. Dep’t of Corr., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52132 (E.D. Cal. Mar. 29, 2018). The prison strip search here had a legitimate penological … Continue reading
CA5: Attenuation of statement from arrest found: “Suppression of inculpatory evidence is an extraordinary remedy.”
The Fifth Circuit finds defendant’s statement is attenuated from his arrest. The time factor favors defendant but the rest favors the government. “Finally, the purpose and flagrancy factor favors the Government with respect to both the stop and subsequent search. … Continue reading
E.D.N.C.: Mere disagreement with state court conclusion on 4A claim doesn’t overcome Stone v. Powell bar
Defendant litigated his search in state court and lost in the trial court and on appeal. He filed a habeas petition. “Petitioner’s disagreement with the ultimate disposition of his Fourth Amendment claim does not indicate he was not given a … Continue reading
CA10: Consent was attenuated from alleged unlawful stop despite def’s real urgency to go pee
The government proved that defendant’s consent was attentuated from the alleged unlawful detention because the paperwork during the stop was given back. The district court considered the fact defendant complained she had to pee really bad. United States v. Ramos, … Continue reading
NM: Assuming stop was unconstitutional, def’s giving a false name purged the taint
Surveying the law nationwide, the court concludes that defendant’s giving a false name purged the taint of his unreasonable stop under both the Fourth Amendment and the state constitution. The court declines the invitation to distinguish between violent and non-violent … Continue reading
IN: FBI’s search was used in state court; since state doesn’t recognize attenuation, the uncontested suppression of the search also suppresses def’s statements
The FBI’s search of defendant’s computers was governed by the Indiana Constitution in state court, and the search was unlawful under that. Since Indiana doesn’t recognize the attenuation doctrine, defendant’s statements are suppressed as well. Wright v. State, 2018 Ind. … Continue reading
IL: Illegal stop and search not fixed under Strieff by finding outstanding warrant after
An illegal stop and search that led to an outstanding warrant wasn’t attenuated by the finding of the warrant, even when the stop was not purposeful or flagrant. In re Jarrell C. (People v. Jarrell C.), 2017 IL App (1st) … Continue reading
CA8: The independent source rule doesn’t apply to a civil rights conviction for false arrest
Defendant was properly convicted of false arrest as a deprivation of civil rights. He argued the attenuation doctrine that there was an independent source of information. There wasn’t, and the independent source doctrine is for the exclusionary rule not a … Continue reading
OR: State has burden of pleading and proof on attenuation, and here it failed
The state had the burden and failed to prove attenuation between the stop and unreasonable search and finding the evidence. It did not raise the issue to preserve it. [This was submitted 33 months ago after remand from Oregon Supreme … Continue reading
MD follows Strieff on attenuation from preexisting arrest warrant
“[W]here officers observed a group of individuals openly drinking what appeared to be an alcoholic beverage and one of them threw a bottle to the ground, the officers had reasonable suspicion to investigate a potential open container violation and to … Continue reading
NE: Oral and written advice of rights to refuse consent attenuated any possible minor illegal police misconduct
The officer’s misconduct, if any, wasn’t flagrant and the later written advisement and waiver of consent was attenuation. State v. Bray, 297 Neb. 916, 2017 Neb. LEXIS 178 (Sept. 29, 2017). Defendant was driving a car carrier, and he was … Continue reading
M.D.La.: Def claims an illegal search led to his arrest; his admissions on jail phone calls are attenuated from that
Defendant’s calls from jail to his girlfriend about destroying evidence were attenuated from any prior illegality. “The Court finds that the nexus between the original unlawful search and the challenged evidence was attenuated by the intervening phone calls, an independent … Continue reading
OH5: SW needed to obtain blood results from hospital’s blood draw
Defendant’s blood draw in the hospital was for medical purposes, and a search warrant was required to get access to that information. Trial court affirmed. State v. Saunders, 2017-Ohio-7348, 2017 Ohio App. LEXIS 3640 (5th Dist. Aug. 23, 2017). Playpen … Continue reading
ID: Distinguishing Strieff, when it was obvious the person stopped was not the person the police were looking for, running warrants was unnecessary and continued the stop
Distinguishing Strieff, when it was obvious the person stopped was not the person the police were looking for, running warrants on them was unnecessary and continued the stop. State v. Cohagan, 2017 Ida. LEXIS 250 (Aug. 24, 2017)