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)
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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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"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
WI: SI to arrest warrant issued in error but relied on in good faith would not be suppressed
Police were dispatched to a 911 call, and, on the way, discovered an arrest warrant for the subject of the call. By the time they got there, the 911 call was off, but they arrested on the warrant. It turned … Continue reading
CA9: PC is a close question, and that’s good enough for GFE
“In this case, it is a close question whether the warrant was supported by probable cause. Although a close call, we need not resolve this issue because even if the warrant lacked probable cause, the good faith exception to the … Continue reading
CA4: Carpenter didn’t apply under Davis GFE where circuit law didn’t require warrant before
Carpenter doesn’t apply under Davis good faith exception where circuit law didn’t require a warrant before. Besides, here it was harmless at best. United States v. Chavez, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 18022 (4th Cir. July 2, 2018):
M.D.N.C.: Calling def a “suspect” in the affidavit for SW for his house, without more, isn’t PC and the GFE doesn’t apply
Defendant was identified as a “suspect” in a shooting, but the police provided nothing to the issuing magistrate that even suggested how. The affidavit for the search warrant of defendant’s home was “bare bones,” and the good faith exception can’t … Continue reading
CA6: SW affidavit was so lacking in evidence that it did not show PC; def’s criminal record not enough; SW affidavit so lacking, no GFE
To determine whether the warrant affidavit supported probable cause to search defendant’s residence under Fourth Amendment, the court was required to assess the significance of each piece of evidence relied upon. Then it considers all the evidence together to determine … Continue reading
CA8: Prior unlawful search of bag on bus was corrected by good faith actions of officer and exclusionary rule wouldn’t be applied
A Tornado bus was stopped in Arkansas, and the Arkansas State Trooper was looking for unmarked bags that could be considered abandoned because unmarked bags on Tornado buses were being used to ferry drugs. While searching the bag, the officer … Continue reading
NE: A pre-Birchfield warrantless blood draw would not be excluded under GFE
A blood draw that predated Birchfield was valid under the good faith exception. “Because the good faith exception applies, the district court erred in reversing Hatfield’s conviction.” State v. Hatfield, 300 Neb. 152 (June 8, 2018). Two controlled buys by … Continue reading
NJ: “Hot pursuit” into a home to seek an iPhone via the find phone application was unreasonable
“Hot pursuit” into a home to seek an iPhone via the find phone application was unreasonable. Here, however, there was a private search by defendant’s brother, and the exclusionary rule doesn’t apply. State ex rel. J.A., 2018 N.J. LEXIS 713 … Continue reading
D.S.C.: Cut and paste “clerical error” on address of place to be searched was overcome by GFE
Officers sought a search warrant for defendant’s house at 2681 Houston Street. The search warrant itself, obviously called up on a computer from another case, had 3438 Navajo Street, and nobody noticed the difference, including the judge who reviewed the … Continue reading
M.D.Tenn.: SW affidavit didn’t sufficiently show nexus, but not so lacking that GFE didn’t apply
The affidavit for the search warrant here failed to show nexus to defendant’s house under Sixth Circuit precedent. It was sufficient, however, for the good faith exception to apply because the affidavit was not so lacking in information that reliance … Continue reading
CA5: When govt addresses GFE, defendant must respond or waive it
In the Fifth Circuit it’s good faith first, probable cause second. The government addressed good faith in its brief, but defendant didn’t in his. Good faith prevails. United States v. Carroll, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 12280 (5th Cir. May 10, … Continue reading
CA4: Forensic border search of cell phone “non-routine” but GFE applies
An intensive forensic search of an outbound noncitizen’s cell phone required at least reasonable suspicion and maybe a warrant under Riley. Case law, however, uniformly says not at the time this happened, so the search is valid under the good … Continue reading
CA4: It’s a reasonable inference that evidence of bank fraud will be found at home
It is a reasonable inference that records of bank fraud would be found in defendant’s home because it is usually kept for many years. The officer stated this in the affidavit for the search warrant as based on his experience, … Continue reading
D.N.J.: Previous finding of good faith applies to later Franks challenge
Defendant had already filed a suppression motion and lost on good faith. Now he files a motion based on Franks that statements of witnesses in quote marks weren’t accurate. The previous finding of good faith carries over to here, and … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: No PC for nexus to def’s house, and no GFE
The affidavit failed to show probable cause for nexus to defendant’s house. It was so devoid of probable cause that the good faith exception does not apply. United States v. Myles, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69373 (E.D. Mich. Apr. 25, … Continue reading
E.D.N.Y.: Def’s search incident of his backpack for fraudulent use of a Metrocard was valid at least on GFE and inevitable discovery
Defendant was stopped for using a school student’s Metrocard to get on the NYC subway because he looked and was a so older. His backpacked was removed, and he was handcuffed. His backpack was searched incident to his arrest. The … Continue reading
AR: State’s failure to get ruling on GFE below bars that argument on appeal; statute on BAC penalties violates Birchfield
Arkansas’s refusal to submit to a BAC test has criminal penalties, and it violates the Fourth Amendment. The trial court’s finding of voluntary consent was decided without an evidentiary hearing and is clearly erroneous. The state’s failure to get a … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Affidavit for SW failed to show nexus, but GFE was enough to save it
“The bare assertion that defendant departed his home prior to engaging in a drug transaction does not ‘directly connect the residence with the suspected drug dealing activity.’ Id.” Peffer, 880 F.3d at 272-73 (quoting Brown, 828 F.3d at 383-84). The … Continue reading
AZ: Statutory GFE interpreted same as 4A GFE absent reason not to
The state’s statutory good faith exception is coextensive with the Fourth Amendment good faith exception, absent a compelling argument from the defendant. A pre-Birchfield breath test was valid under the good faith exception of Davis, already applied in Arizona. Alsarraf … Continue reading
W.D.N.Y.: “Affidavit of personal knowledge” to show standing isn’t satisfied by the officer’s police reports
The Second Circuit requires an affidavit of personal knowledge to establish standing to contest a search. The officer’s report wasn’t enough just because the officer believed that defendant’s residence was the target of the search. United States v. Lewis, 2018 … Continue reading