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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2017); ABA Journal Blawg 100 (2015-16) (discontinued 2018)
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© 2003-23,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 350,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 45,000 posts since 2003 (25,700+ on WordPress as of 12/31/22)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fourth Amendment cases,
citations, and linksLatest Slip Opinions:
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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $Research Links:
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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)
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“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!”
"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."
---Pepé Le Pew
—Johnson v. United States, 333 U.S. 10, 13-14 (1948)
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Category Archives: Warrant papers
CO: Typo in date (9/9 v. 9/30) in SW affidavit could be overlooked by other contents referring to previous few hours; GFE also applies
The typographical error in the affidavit showing the date as September 9th when it should have been September 30th could be overlooked because the affidavit as a whole referred to the previous few hours, and the good faith exception applies. … Continue reading
CA11: Mere fact of a firearm in the home wasn’t exigency here
“Although Officer Plesnik now arrived with the knowledge that there was a firearm on site, the mere presence of a firearm—without more—did not transform the non-exigent scene into an exigent circumstance and trigger the emergency aid exception. Indeed, by the … Continue reading
N.D.Ala.: Wrong street number in a SW didn’t void it where house was well described and officers had been there before
The wrong street number on the search warrant did not make it invalid. Officers knew the house from surveillance, and it was described. The right house was searched. “So, the erroneous street number did not make the warrant invalid.” Threatt … Continue reading
M.D.Ga.: No standing in packages sent to one’s address but with all different names on them
Defendant failed to show standing in packages searched coming to an address he claimed as his “primary address,” but the addressee and sender were not him. United States v. Williams, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26755 (M.D. Ga. Feb. 16, 2023). … Continue reading
NE: Failure to deliver SW to def not 4A violation and doesn’t warrant suppression
Defendant was the subject of a search warrant for a blood draw. The fact he wasn’t given a copy of the warrant doesn’t require reversal. He clearly knew what was going on. State v. Svendgard, 31 Neb. App. 596, 2023 … Continue reading
NY2: SW papers provided to GJ aren’t discoverable because of GJ secrecy
Defendant sought search warrant materials presented to the grand jury. Denied because of grand jury secrecy. Sculti v. Finley, 2022 NY Slip Op 06950, 2022 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 6820 (2d Dept. Dec. 7, 2022). Defendant had no standing in … Continue reading
W.D.Pa.: All Writs Act proceeding for tracking order is a judicial proceeding for common law right of access to records
An All Writs Act proceeding by the government to track someone in real time back in 2020 is a judicial record subject to the common law right of disclosure of court records. In re Forbes Media LLC, 2022 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading
D.Minn.: Lindell SW affidavit remains under seal to protect investigation
In the Lindell cell phone search warrant case, the media seeks access to the affidavit. The government has established that, despite the vast public interest, the affidavit should remain sealed while the investigation progresses. In re Search Warrant, 2022 U.S. … Continue reading
techdirt: Mississippi Courts Are Helping Cops Keep Search Warrants Out Of The Public’s Hands
techdirt: Mississippi Courts Are Helping Cops Keep Search Warrants Out Of The Public’s Hands by Tim Cushing (“No-knock warrants remain under fire as they continue to needlessly increase the death toll of residents who often have no idea who’s violently … Continue reading
Cal.4th: SW papers for cell site simulators remain under seal because CIs are identified in there
EFF sued for access to search warrant materials that led to use of cell site simulators. The court finds that the protection of named CIs in the papers still needs to be protected, and they remain under seal. Electronic Frontier … Continue reading
D.D.C.: SW affidavit unsealed in part, protects identity of witnesses
The search warrant for Sen. Burr’s cell phone is unsealed in part after about a year under the common law right of access to judicial records. In re L.A. Times Communs. LLC to Unseal Court Records, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading
S.D.Fla.: Threats against LEOs involved in execution of SW requires affidavit remain sealed
Public threats against FBI agents involved in the search requires leaving the affidavit for the search warrant under seal. In re Warrant, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150388 (S.D. Fla. Aug. 22, 2022). Defendant’s traffic stop was factually based and not … Continue reading
MS: Minor errors in paperwork didn’t obscure a thing and didn’t prejudice def
Minor errors in the paperwork for the warrant were not prejudicial to defendant. There was no challenge to probable cause, and the papers as a whole show the warrant timely executed after issuance. Jenkins v. State, 2022 Miss. App. LEXIS … Continue reading
CA6: No 4A requirement to file SW before execution
No case says that failure to file a search warrant before it is executed violates the Fourth Amendment (or state law, not that state law matters in federal court). United States v. Dixon, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 19457 (6th Cir. … Continue reading
N.D.Ind.: Typo in SW home address was cured by picture of house
A typo in defendant’s home address was not prejudicial where there was a picture of the house included in the warrant. Thus, no ineffective assistance of counsel for not challenging it. Kassay v. United States, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 116669 … Continue reading
CO: State can’t pile hunch on hunch to try to get to PC
“Colorado State Patrol (‘CSP’) Trooper Christian Bollen had a hunch, and then another hunch, and then another hunch. And he acted on those hunches, despite a circumstance directly undermining them.” “An officer’s hunch is insufficient to establish reasonable suspicion to … Continue reading
D.Conn.: Handcuffing did not turn this stop into an arrest
Handcuffing did not turn this stop into an arrest. United States v. Walker, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108170 (D.Conn. June 17, 2022).* Petitioner’s 2254 claim was based on ineffective assistance of counsel for waiver of his claim that he was … Continue reading
CA9: Failure to deliver SW at scene of search violated Rule 41, but no suppression here
Failure to deliver the whole search warrant to defendant violated Rule 41(f)(1)(C), but it wasn’t deliberate so no suppression. United States v. Manaku, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 16337 (9th Cir. June 14, 2022). 2254 petitioner’s ineffective assistance of counsel for … Continue reading
OH7: Attached affidavit made SW particular
While the search warrant wasn’t particular, it incorporated the affidavit which was. State v. Bugno, 2022-Ohio-2008, 2022 Ohio App. LEXIS 1882 (7th Dist. June 9, 2022). The emergency aid exception applies: “[T]he presence of blood on the premises, coupled with … Continue reading
