September 2026 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Archives
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Recent Posts
- WaPo: Americans have turned against police cameras that track license plates, new survey shows
- W.D.Tex.: What is the duty of the neutral and detached magistrate?
- D.Me.: Yes, more investigation could have been done, but there’s still PC on what there was
- CA3: Brady doesn’t apply to SW materials
- E.D.Mich.: Person a cell phone was given to as gift could consent to search
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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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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
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General (many free):
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Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
DEA Agents Manual (2002) (download)
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Stringrays (ACLU No. Cal.) (pdf)
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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
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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)
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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. 
Category Archives: Good faith exception
CA10: PC doesn’t need to be decided where GFE would apply; overbroad SWs are severed
Probable cause does not have to be decided where the good faith exception would apply. The warrant was for firearm evidence and had a cell phone search provision. If the cell phone provision was overbroad, that should be severed and … Continue reading
S.D.W.Va.: Uncorroborated CI, criminal history, and inconclusive trash pull didn’t support SW for house; no GFE
“Pending before the court is Defendant’s motion to suppress 48 pounds of methamphetamine, $41,000 in cash, and all other evidence seized during a search of his residence by the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (‘MDENT’). I find that neither the … Continue reading
E.D.Mo.: Constitutionality of window tint statute doesn’t have anything to do with PC for a stop for overtinting
Even if Missouri’s window tint statute was unconstitutional, something in doubt, it wouldn’t have any affect on the reasonableness of defendant’s stop for violating it, and the exclusionary rule would not apply. Factually, the officer said he couldn’t see into … Continue reading
GFE is not an exception to warrant requirement, only the exclusionary rule (dissent)
Per the dissent, the Michigan Court of Appeals erred in holding in an unpublished opinion that the good faith exception is an exception to the warrant requirement, not the exclusionary rule. People v. Mead, 2020 Mich. App. LEXIS 6223 (Sept. … Continue reading
CA4: Def had burden on GFE, and he failed
Assuming without deciding the probable cause question, defendant fails to prove that the good faith exception should not be applied. United States v. Parrish, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 10533 (4th Cir. Apr. 13, 2021). The officer had probable cause to … Continue reading
N.D.Iowa: 27 month delay in seeking SW for cell phone was unreasonable, and GFE not applied
A 27 month delay in getting a search warrant for defendant’s cell phone was unreasonable, and the good faith exception is not applied. United States v. Tu Anh Nguyen, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70671 (N.D. Iowa Mar. 16, 2021):
CA8: Lack of nexus saved by GFE
Even without an adequate showing of nexus, search warrants have been sustained under the good faith exception. This is one of those cases where the inference is close enough. United States v. Mayweather, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 10208 (8th Cir. … Continue reading
GA: Valid strategic choice to forego search claim to support defense
Involving pre-Carpenter CSLI, the defense had valid strategic reasons to forego a motion to suppress to support the defense arguments at trial. “Because we hold that Thomas’s trial counsel did not perform deficiently because she had a reasonable strategic purpose … Continue reading
CA8: While the stated reason for the stop was maybe legally erroneous, there was a valid unstated alternative basis
Officers stated an improper lane change as their basis for a stop, but it might not have been illegal under Nebraska law. However, they already had reason to believe the registration on the vehicle was lapsed, and that’s a proper … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Def counsel’s strategic decisions about how to argue a suppress issue is entitled to deference
Defense counsel’s strategic decisions about to argue a suppression motion is entitled to nearly total deference. Brown v. United States, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 63948 (S.D. N.Y. Apr. 1, 2021). Petitioner’s 2255 claim is based on defense counsel’s not raising … Continue reading
CA6: When the question of nexus is close, GFE is the answer
When the question of nexus of probable cause of a crime to a defendant’s home is close, the good faith exception provides the answer. United States v. Reed, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 9526 (6th Cir. Apr. 1, 2021):
IL: CSLI 11 years before Carpenter obtained in good faith
CSLI data obtained 11 years before Carpenter was obtained in good faith at the time and would not be suppressed. People v. Potts, 2021 IL App (1st) 161219, 2021 Ill. App. LEXIS 166 (Mar. 31, 2021). Defense counsel was not … Continue reading
W.D.Ark.: Officer acting outside his local jurisdiction isn’t 4A issue
“Mr. van Leeuwen also claims that Boone County officers were without jurisdiction when they arrested him in his Marion County home, in alleged violation of Arkansas Code § 14-15-501. However, ‘[a] police violation of state law does not establish a … Continue reading
D.V.I.: CI’s information of def was commonly known and in paper; yet, GFE applies
The search warrant here was based on the CI’s relating largely publicly-known information, some of which was in the newspaper online. It wasn’t predictive, but all historical of criminal record, the kind of car, etc. This is close but no … Continue reading
LA1: Evading a traffic stop justifies a patdown
Defendant’s stop was justified by a traffic offense. His evading justified a patdown. State v. Young, 2021 La. App. LEXIS 377 (La. App. 1 Cir. Mar. 18, 2021). “In this case, the Court need not determine whether the search warrant … Continue reading
W.D.La.: Motion to suppress SW has to plead and proffer that GFE doesn’t apply
Defendant had a duty to address the good faith exception in his motion and amended motion to suppress a search under a warrant, but he did not. United States v. Lyons, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 48780 (W.D. La. Feb. 17, … Continue reading
N.D.Ohio: Franks challenge succeeds: no PC of trafficking, stale, and no GFE
Defendant prevails in his Franks challenge. The police withheld that defendant was at worst a suspect in personal use of marijuana, but made it look like he was a trafficker when they had no evidence of it. That means that … Continue reading
CA7: Pre-Riley warrantless cell phone search saved by GFE
Defendant’s cell phone was searched without a warrant pre-Riley under law at the time. “If the evidence collected during the search was to be admitted, he contends, it was only through the application of the good-faith exception recognized in Davis … Continue reading
S.D.Ohio: GFE overcomes lack of nexus; officer unaware of some facts didn’t commit Franks violation
The Franks hearing established that the officer didn’t know that certain things happened during the investigation, so the officer wasn’t withholding information or misleading the court. Probable cause and nexus is [less than] tenuous: “This evidence, standing alone, does not … Continue reading