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- CA6: Knowing passcode to cell phone shows common authority over it to consent
- VI: Smell of MJ no longer PC in VI since legalization
- Reason: 3 Charlotte Cops Resign After Group Chat Reveals Competition To Arrest the Most Black People
- E.D.Mich.: Second SW for cell phone data retained by govt was valid
- S.D.W.Va.: “Shocking” nature of immigration raid on a Mexican restaurant at lunchtime didn’t warrant suppression
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Feedspot’s Best Legal Blogs and Websites 2023-2026,
also, firm website Top 90 Criminal Law Blogs 2026 -
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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: Waiver
OH6: Motion to suppress alleged stop was invalid, but at hearing def switched to lack of PC for search, and that’s waived by lack of notice to state
Defendant’s motion to suppress alleged the impropriety of the stop. At the suppression hearing, however, the defense expanded it to include a lack of probable cause for a car search. The state was not on notice by the motion, and … Continue reading
E.D.N.C.: Random stop at military base gate validly led to DUI
Military officers working the gate at Fort Bragg had reasonable suspicion defendant was driving under the influence when he was stopped for random inspection before entry into the base. It ripened to probable cause. United States v. Lock, 2026 U.S. … Continue reading
CA10: Inconsistency in travel plans isn’t RS per se; officer has to see that they’re lying
Inconsistency in travel plans alone isn’t reasonable suspicion to extend a vehicle stop. The officer has to conclude that one of the occupants was lying about plans. “A trooper can reasonably suspect criminal activity when a driver and passenger lie … Continue reading
TX1: Motion to suppress after officer testified at trial not timely
Defense counsel’s motion to suppress coming during trial at the end of the officer’s testimony wasn’t timely. Brown v. State, 2026 Tex. App. LEXIS 1014 (Tex. App. – Houston (1st Dist.) Feb. 3, 2026)* (unpublished). An automobile exception search can … Continue reading
D.S.D.: “Dismissal of an indictment is not an appropriate remedy for a Fourth Amendment violation.”
“Dismissal of an indictment is not an appropriate remedy for a Fourth Amendment violation. United States v. Chavez, 705 F.3d 381, 386 (8th Cir. 2013).” It may be for a due process violation. United States v. Pryor, 2026 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading
OH6: Search claim resolved in criminal case is collateral estoppel in forfeiture
This is a forfeiture after defendant lost his search claim in his criminal case. The search issue is res judicata or collateral estoppel in the forfeiture. State v. Pitts, 2026-Ohio-292 (6th Dist. Jan. 30, 2026). Defendant’s superseding indictment raising the … Continue reading
AR: Asking for SW before opening the door is not obstructing governmental operations
Asking for a search warrant before opening the door is not obstructing governmental operations. The motion for directed verdict should have been granted. This is not active resistance. Keeton v. State, 2026 Ark. App. 53 (Jan. 28, 2026). The Heck … Continue reading
VA: Refusal to comply with DNA warrant for 12 days was relevant evidence under 403
Defendant’s simple [nonaggressive] refusal to comply with a search warrant for his DNA for 12 days was admissible at trial. [There’s also a prior discussion that suggests harmless error.] Lee v. Commonwealth, 2026 Va. App. LEXIS 32 (Jan. 13, 2026). … Continue reading
W.D.Pa.: SW for gun 11 days after a shooting wasn’t stale
The search warrant for a gun involved in shooting was not stale 11 days after the shooting. Firearms are durable and not consumables. United States v. Williams, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4950 (W.D. Pa. Jan. 12, 2026). The warrant for … Continue reading
D.S.D.: No standing in employer’s laptop
2255 petitioner fails on standing to contest of search of this laptop. Based on all the court can see, including the PSR description, the laptop belonged to his employer, not him. All the electronic devices of the employer were seized. … Continue reading
D.N.H.: Late disclosed SW application doesn’t show “actual innocence”; “legal innocence” is different
Petitioner obtained his search warrant application years after he was convicted. His habeas is denied. He claims it shows he was actually innocent, but this is only potential legal innocence, not actual innocence, and there’s a difference. Davis v. Warden, … Continue reading
DE: Failure to file a pretrial motion to suppress is waiver with no plain error review
Failure to file a pretrial motion to suppress is waiver, and it will not be considered on plain error review, and for good reason. Swanson v. State, 2025 Del. LEXIS 504 (Dec. 31, 2025):
TX3: Motion to suppress never ruled on is waived for appeal
Defendant filed a motion to suppress but didn’t get a hearing or ruling on it. Then, at trial, made a motion in limine but that didn’t preserve the lack of probable cause issue from the motion to suppress. It’s all … Continue reading
HI: Failure to argue PC at suppression hearing was waiver for appeal
Where the defense didn’t argue a lack of probable cause at the suppression hearing, that could not be raised on appeal. State v. Arbogast, 2025 Haw. App. LEXIS 617 (Dec. 23, 2025) (unpublished).* Defendant’s stop was reasonable and his spontaneous … Continue reading
D.Minn.: Taking 10 minutes to review a SW affidavit doesn’t show magistrate not neutral and detached
The issuing judge taking ten minutes to review an affidavit for warrant does not show that he or she abandoned the role of a neutral and detached magistrate. [I can usually see probable cause in an affidavit in 30-45 seconds. … Continue reading
MD: State’s failure to litigate standing at suppression hearing is waiver
The state’s failure to litigate standing at the suppression hearing is its waiver. On the merits, the information failed to show probable cause via collective knowledge. Seizure of bloody clothing in a bag in the hallway outside the ER was … Continue reading
KS: KHP power for administrative searches of truck can’t be delegated to sheriffs
Under Kansas statute, only KHP officers can randomly stop regulated trucks for inspection, and it can’t be delegated to county sheriffs by an MOU. “There is no dispute here that regulation of commercial motor carriers triggers a substantial government interest.” … Continue reading
S.D.Fla.: 16 shot ShotSpotter alert confirmed by witnesses was exigency to enter curtilage
A ShotSpotter alert of 16 gunshots from the vicinity of defendant’s home confirmed by witnesses in a car leaving the area was justification for exigent entry onto the curtilage. “Since the addition of the omitted information does not disturb the … Continue reading
NY: The smell of a decomposing body in a Brooklyn apartment was plain smell for finding source
Defendant had no standing to contest the opening of an apartment refrigerator finding a decapitated body. This was plain smell. The officers could smell the decomposing body, and that was enough to open the refrigerator door. People v. McGee, 2025 … Continue reading
DE: Def was not denied confrontation by not getting to cross-examine about pictures attached to warrant application
Defendant was not denied confrontation of the CI who took photographs of his property used to get the search warrant. When the state offered them at trial, defendant successfully objected, so there was nothing to confront. State v. McCurdy, 2025 … Continue reading