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- W.D.Ark.: Parole search waiver moots lack of PC argument
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- NY: Failure to show independent source for officer’s observation of def required reversal
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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 (26,730+ on WordPress as of 12/31/23) -
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Fourth Amendment cases,
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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)
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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) -
“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: Custody
W.D.N.Y.: SW for devices used for video surveillance included cell phones because apps can be used to view cameras from cell phones
In a search warrant for devices capable of use in video surveillance, a cell phone qualified because apps on phones permitted home surveillance cameras (such as Ring doorbell cams) to be viewed on cell phones. United States v. Hampton, 2024 … Continue reading
CA3: PC for ptf’s arrest for punching a police horse
“Viewing the facts in the light most favorable to Coco as the non-moving party, we conclude there is a genuine dispute as to whether there was probable cause to arrest Coco for harassing a police horse under Del. Code tit. … Continue reading
W.D.Pa.: Affidavit for SW doesn’t have to say CI was reliable when the facts and circumstances alleged showed it
Defendant’s allegations of the police not saying in the warrant affidavit the CI was reliable doesn’t matter because the affidavit for warrant shows otherwise why the CI was credited. There was probable cause. To the extent this would be considered … Continue reading
M.D.La.: Automobile exception doesn’t apply to car parked in owner’s garage
Under Collins, the automobile exception does not apply to a car parked in the owner’s garage. United States v. Dejoie, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64270 (M.D. La. Apr. 8, 2024). “The exclusionary rule does not apply to ‘physical evidence that … Continue reading
D.Minn.: SW arguably included use of cell site simulator to track phone; GFE applied in any event
The state issued warrant here authorized the use of a cell site simulator, but this wasn’t explicitly stated in the affidavit for warrant. And, the affidavit wasn’t incorporated into the warrant either. This is a close question. The court comes … Continue reading
LA5: Omission wasn’t material for Franks and it was only negligent, if anything
“There is no evidence to demonstrate that any omission of Mr. Daleo’s prior statement in the probable cause affidavits was intentional. Further, we find the applications demonstrate that the attesting officers had reasonable grounds to believe that defendant’s residence and … Continue reading
UT: Being hospitalized having been shot by police isn’t “custody” for Miranda purposes
A person hospitalized after having been shot by the police is not per se “in custody” for Miranda purposes. The reason for the shooting was the safety of the officers and others, not custody. Tennessee v. Garner isn’t even close, … Continue reading
E.D.N.C.: Posting political candidate’s address online violated no REP
A candidate running for office had his address posted online, and this did not violate any reasonable expectation of privacy or Fourth Amendment right. His voter registration address was already online. Sharma v. Hirsch, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 202163 (E.D.N.C. … Continue reading
E.D.Cal.: No 4A right to be detained and interrogated in a certain way
There is no Fourth Amendment right to be detained and interrogated in a certain way more to one’s liking. Hendrix v. City of Madera, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 163446 (E.D. Cal. Sep. 14, 2023)*:
D.Nev.: Clearly established state statute doesn’t translate to clearly established constitutional law
Clearly established state statute doesn’t translate to clearly established constitutional law for § 1983 qualified immunity purposes. Brown v. Tromba, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 149020 (D. Nev. Aug. 23, 2023).* “In their reply brief the OSA Defendants cite cases concerning … Continue reading
E.D.Ark.: Ptf’s Facebook posts shooting guns supported use of flashbang during drug raid
Plaintiff’s Facebook posts of her shooting guns on her property supported the use of flashbang devices when her house was subjected to a drug raid by the SWAT team. Davenport v. City of Little Rock, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 119102 … Continue reading
OH12: Protective sweeps didn’t require consent
The protective sweep didn’t require consent. Moreover, the argument wasn’t preserve below. State v. Mott, 2023-Ohio-2268 (12th Dist. July 3, 2023).* Based on the totality, it was objectively reasonable to believe defendant was speeding when the officer decided to stop … Continue reading
SD: Def not in custody during DNA SW when asked basic questions
Despite language difficulties, defendant did speak some English, enough to refer to erection difficulties, and he never indicated he didn’t understand. He was not in custody for Miranda purposes when he was asked some basic questions and volunteered information while … Continue reading
OH4: When officer couldn’t find source of strong smell of MJ, he could search again under 4A
The officer encountered a strong smell of marijuana and searched the car for it coming up “empty.” He reviewed the video in the car and searched again. This one continuous effort and separate justification wasn’t needed. Suppression order reversed. State … Continue reading
E.D.N.Y.: Without knowing what to suppress, motion to suppress is premature
Defendant’s motion to suppress the search of Device A is premature since the product of the search isn’t yet known. Also, his motion to suppress the search of Device B is denied for lack of standing. It isn’t his. United … Continue reading