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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 (27,400+ on WordPress as of 7/23/24) -
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--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) -
“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: Collective knowledge
D.Alaska: Unsigned SW affidavit still in GF where officer was sworn
The affidavit for warrant was unsigned by the officer but he had been sworn before the warrant issued. The good faith exception saves this search. United States v. Hampton, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 200326 (D. Alaska Nov. 4, 2024) Defendant’s … Continue reading
CA3: Collective knowledge applies to reasons to extend a stop
With collective knowledge there was reason to extend the stop. United States v. McAliley, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 25982 (3d Cir. Oct. 15, 2024).* (After all, collective knowledge applies to reasonable suspicion too.) The USMJ’s decision denying the motion to … Continue reading
CA2: Failure to leave SW attachment at scene of search doesn’t void the search
That searching officers didn’t leave behind Attachment B to the warrant after the search didn’t void the search. United States v. Whaley, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 16819 (2d Cir. July 10, 2024). Collective knowledge here fails: “Based on the evidence … Continue reading
CA6: No QI for shooting a man obviously surrendering
Officers responded to an armed potentially suicidal man they found in his house. When commanded to show his hands he started to get down to the floor when he was shot. “A jury could find these actions would indicate to … Continue reading
MO: Collective knowledge for RS doesn’t require that every witness be called at the suppression hearing
Collective knowledge for reasonable suspicion doesn’t require that every witness be called at the suppression hearing. “While Appellant seemingly takes issue with the fact that the officer who took Victim’s report did not also testify, the Hensley test only requires … Continue reading
CA6: No REP in “Walmart pay app” purchases; it’s a third-party record
Defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in his “Walmart pay app” purchases from a third party subpoena of things he used in a bank robbery shortly thereafter. “Therefore, the third-party doctrine still applies to business records that might reveal … Continue reading
D.Nev.: No standing where alleged Turo car rental couldn’t be shown by driver
The court finds defendant lacked standing in a car he claims to have rented through Turo from the owner. The innocent driver of car stolen by someone else could have standing, but he doesn’t even get there. The rental couldn’t … Continue reading
M.D.Fla.: “[T]here is no constitutional right to be free from arrest on the basis of illegally obtained evidence.”
“[T]here is no constitutional right to be free from arrest on the basis of illegally obtained evidence.” Santiago v. Swain, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 194607 (M.D. Fla. Oct. 31, 2023).* Plaintiff’s civil Franks claim fails because there was probable cause … Continue reading
ID: Inventory as pretext for investigatory searches unreasonble
An inventory search that is a pretext for an investigatory search is unreasonable. Remanded for reconsideration of this issue. State v. Ramos, 2023 Ida. LEXIS 123 (Sep. 29, 2023). techdirt: The Casual Cruelty Of Cops: Inventory Search Edition by Tim … Continue reading
TN: Collective knowledge also applies to RS
Collective knowledge also applies to reasonable suspicion. State v. Hodge, 2023 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 317 (Aug. 24, 2023). Defendant’s “certified question” for appeal was overbroad. State v. Beech, 2023 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 313 (Aug. 24, 2023).* Defendant was … Continue reading
IN: 3 am entry into backyard to look for weapon when no one around couldn’t be justified by exigency
“There was no emergency here. Officer Eber and the trial court expressed concern that a firearm might have been lying in Hinton’s backyard and could be accessed by a child or other person. But, even if so, there was no … Continue reading
E.D.Tenn.: Undated controlled buys had to be in five weeks before SW, and that’s not stale
The multiple controlled buys were undated in the search warrant application, but the common sense reading was that they were in the five weeks before the warrant issued. That shows an ongoing drug operation, and it’s not stale. United States … Continue reading
CA6: Officer firing gun at a person he or she doesn’t know fired one, too, is excessive
Officers fired at plaintiff without knowing whether he was the one who fired a gun at them. The sound of racking a bullet into a gun’s chamber in the abstract was not enough. LeFtwich v. Driscoll, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS … Continue reading
AR: Suicide note and no answer at door justified exigent entry
Police responded to a call within minutes of a finding of a suicide note. “One officer called the on-call investigator after knocking on the door and getting no response. It was only then that the officers decided to breach the … Continue reading
MA: Horizontal collective knowledge requires officers communicate with each other
Horizontal collective knowledge in Massachusetts requires the officers communicate with each other and share information. Commonwealth v. Privette, 2023 Mass. LEXIS 86 (Mar. 28, 2023):
S.D.Tex.: Exigency still remained for a second protective sweep of the premises
Enough exigency still remained for a second protective sweep of the premises. United States v. Beard, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29007 (S.D. Tex. Feb. 22, 2023). Collective knowledge from another police department can be relied up to show probable cause. … Continue reading
CA4: Terry stop is not necessarily custody for Miranda purposes
A Terry stop is not necessarily custody for Miranda purposes. They can be, but they focus on different questions. United States v. Leggette, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 521 n.5 (4th Cir. Jan. 10, 2023). Collective knowledge of the officers involved … Continue reading
E.D.N.Y.: NYPD’s I-Card system when based on PC satisfies collective knowledge
NYPD issues what it calls an “I-Card” (“Activate Investigation Card”) which is supposed to be based on probable cause to believe a person committed a felony. With probable cause, the I-Card provides collective knowledge for an arrest. United States v. … Continue reading