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- CAAF: Information on computer stored in evidence room wasn’t stale
- CAAF: SW’s incorporated affidavit satisfied particularity, reliance on CA10 case not CAAF case was error
- CA10: Def’s BO suggesting heroin abuse added to RS
- WaPo: They confided in ChatGPT. Their secrets ended up in court.
- CA6: No interlocutory appeal of denial of motion to suppress
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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2015-17) (then discontinued)
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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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--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)
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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. 
Monthly Archives: November 2016
Can a SW issue for a cell phone in any drug case? We’re just about there because so many cases assume there is PC in such cases. This one Georgia
The affidavit for defendant’s cell phone in this drug case showed probable cause to search it [without a word about the phone and the crime]. Glispie v. State, 2016 Ga. LEXIS 736 (Nov. 7, 2016):
E.D.Wis.: Facebook SW had thin but sufficient showing of PC, and GFE applied
The police had information that armed robbers were communicating on Facebook about their plans. The affidavit of probable cause as to this defendant’s Facebook account was thin, but it was similar to that of the other defendants and it still … Continue reading
Crain’s Chicago Business: Lawsuit blasts new Airbnb regulations
Crain’s Chicago Business: Lawsuit blasts new Airbnb regulations by Alby Gallun:
E.D.Pa.: CSLI warrant upheld
CSLI warrant upheld: “ The cell site data obtained by the government is admissible because the government’s actions did not constitute a ‘search’ falling under the protection of the Fourth Amendment. Even if the government had violated the Fourth Amendment, … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Affidavit failed to show nexus but it wasn’t bare bones, so GFE applies
The affidavit for the search warrant for defendant’s car failed to show nexus to the crime under investigation, but it wasn’t “bare bones” so the court applies the good faith exception to sustain it. United States v. Fletcher, 2016 U.S. … Continue reading
M.D.Ala.: Omission of city and county from address in SW wasn’t fatal where place to be searched was still apparent
The fact the affidavit had the address but no city and county doesn’t violate the particularity requirement. Yes, it would have been better to have done so, but the officers still could find the place they were looking for, so … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: Nexus shown to connect def’s cell phone in car to potential gang retaliation
Nexus can be proved by inference or direct observation. Defendant was found in his car with weapons as a FIPF in rival gang territory when he was arrested, and it’s a reasonable inference the cell phone in the car would … Continue reading
KY: Dog sniff during routine traffic stop was unreasonable without RS
A dog sniff during a routine traffic stop was unreasonable because it extended the stop. Under state case law, the dog sniff had to have some relation to the purpose of the stop or reasonable suspicion developed, and here there … Continue reading
OH5: SW for drug transaction evidence on computer reasonably led to finding CP
The computer search warrant in this case was for evidence of drug activity (as in pictures and Excel spreadsheets or other ledger information), and the officer stumbled upon child pornography. The fact files can be hidden or deliberately mislabeled necessarily … Continue reading
D.Kan.: Passenger who had just been given permission to drive car had standing
Defendant was a passenger and had been given permission to drive this car 10 minutes before the stop, so he had standing (although “it’s a close call”). When he didn’t have a DL, the officer ordered him out of the … Continue reading
CA10: Bee inspector gets QI for search of apiary apparently in open field and because of unsettled questions of law
Utah bee inspector gets qualified immunity for the administrative inspection of plaintiff’s apiary because of unsettled questions, the fact the apiary was in open fields, and the lack of clearly established law. Cox v. Cache County, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS … Continue reading
CO: Humane Society employee not statutorily authorized to procure SW, but court refuses to suppress
While an “animal protection agent” of the Humane Society is not statutorily authorized to seek a search warrant under Colorado law, the court refuses to suppress because there was probable cause and the warrant was otherwise executed reasonably. People v. … Continue reading
OH1: Vehicle weapon frisk reasonable despite def being out of car
The officer’s frisk of defendant’s vehicle for a weapon was reasonable on reasonable suspicion even though defendant was out of the car. It wouldn’t be hard for him to get back to car. [Seems difficult to imagine a vehicle frisk … Continue reading
TN finally adopts GFE after 30 years, at least as to Davis situations
Having avoided the question for 30 years until it was “squarely presented,” the Tennessee Supreme Court adopts the good faith exception to the extent provided for in Davis. It does not yet signal Leon good faith. State v. Reynolds, 2016 … Continue reading
Tucson.com: Sahuarita police expect to use drones by December
Tucson.com: Sahuarita police expect to use drones by December by Carmen Duarte:
techdirt: Las Vegas PD Continues To Use Faulty $2 Drug Field Tests Because Convictions Matter More Than Justice
techdirt: Las Vegas PD Continues To Use Faulty $2 Drug Field Tests Because Convictions Matter More Than Justice by Tim Cushing:
E.D.Mich.: SW for human body parts wasn’t a general warrant
Defendant was accused of unlawfully trafficking in human body parts, and the search warrant for his premises for body parts was not a general warrant. United States v. Rathburn, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140562 (E.D.Mich. Oct. 11, 2016). [It seems … Continue reading
NY3: Cursory suppression motion properly denied on its face
Defendant’s suppression motion was properly denied. “Defendant made only a brief, conclusory claim that there was no probable cause for his arrest, lacking factual support ….” On his consent claim of lack of consent, the lack of factual support didn’t … Continue reading
OH10: Failing to raise suppression issue at trial court was waived for appeal
Defendant waived his argument related to a prolonged detention by failing to raise it in his motions to suppress or at the suppression hearings, and then only by raising the argument for the first time on appeal. State v. Geiger, … Continue reading
Cato: Communications and Data Meet the Fourth Amendment
Cell site location information at SCOTUS Cato: Communications and Data Meet the Fourth Amendment by Jim Harper: This week and last, the Cato Institute filed amicus briefs urging the Supreme Court to take up two cases dealing with the constitutional … Continue reading