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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© 2003-21,
online since Feb. 24, 2003
WebPage Visits: real non-robot hits since 2010; approx. about 35,000 posts since 2003~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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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Briefs online (but no amicus briefs)
Oyez Project (NWU)
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General (many free):
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F.R.Crim.P. 41
www.fd.org
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
DEA Agents Manual (2002) (download)
DOJ Computer Search Manual (2009) (pdf)
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
Privacy Foundation
Electronic Frontier Foundation
NACDL’s Domestic Drone Information Center
Electronic Privacy Information Center
Criminal Appeal (post-conviction) (9th Cir.)
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"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 execution
S.D.N.Y.: Late return of SW materials in discovery wasn’t at all prejudicial
The return of the search warrant materials was late, but defendant shows no prejudice, and he had them in discovery. United States v. Lesane, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 137777 (S.D.N.Y. July 23, 2021). Defendant’s discovery claim that the government must … Continue reading
TN: AT&T’s requirement cell phone record SWs go through FL office doesn’t deprive court of jurisdiction
The fact AT&T wants cell phone search warrant for a Tennessee cell phone to be served at West Palm Beach, Florida for its convenience does not make the warrant without jurisdiction. The digital information could be accessed from anywhere, but … Continue reading
CA9: Ptf stated claim for unnecessary destruction of home in executing SW
Plaintiff stated a claim for unnecessary destruction of his home by police in executing a search warrant. Denby v. Engstrom, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 20397 (9th Cir. July 9, 2021):
TX3: Def doesn’t get art. 38.23 jury instruction on RS
Because a jury would never understand the question of law in reasonable suspicion, a Texas defendant doesn’t get an art. 38.23 jury instruction on it. “Appellant’s second alleged disputed fact concerns the existence or nonexistence of reasonable suspicion and probable … Continue reading
NY2: Date typo in drug field test report after search wasn’t material
Defendant’s motion to suppress was properly denied by the trial court. Defendant’s reliance on when a field test of the product of the search showed only a typographical error as to the date it was done and doesn’t undermine the … Continue reading
E.D.Cal.: SW for single family dwelling valid even if there’s a renter living inside
A search warrant for what’s ostensibly a single family dwelling is sufficient to search the entire building, despite the fact that it turned out that there was a renter in one room. The good faith exception applies, too. United States … Continue reading
W.D.N.Y.: One has to show standing to get access to SW materials
Defendant has to show his standing to get access to the search warrant application under United States v. Pirk, 282 F. Supp. 3d 585, 594 (W.D.N.Y. 2017). United States v. Cobb, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 114405 (W.D. N.Y. June 18, … Continue reading
Reason: Michigan Cops Raided a Home, Damaged the House, and Held a Family at Gunpoint. It Was the Wrong Address.
Reason: Michigan Cops Raided a Home, Damaged the House, and Held a Family at Gunpoint. It Was the Wrong Address. (“Accountability is unlikely.”)
Forbes: Cop Who Led Accidental No-Knock Raid Against 78-Year-Old Grandfather Can’t Be Sued, Court Rules
Forbes: Cop Who Led Accidental No-Knock Raid Against 78-Year-Old Grandfather Can’t Be Sued, Court Rules by Nick Sibilla (“It was a police raid John Oliver called ‘almost cartoonishly idiotic.’ Looking to apprehend a violent drug dealer at his home in … Continue reading
HPM: Former Houston Police Officer Pleads Guilty To Falsifying Records In Harding Street Raid Case
Houston Public Media: Former Houston Police Officer Pleads Guilty To Falsifying Records In Harding Street Raid Case by Lucio Vasquez (“Steven Bryant is the first officer to be convicted in the wake of the raid.”)
CA8: Visitor’s property could be searched under warrant for host’s place on RS they were involved in drugs, too
Defendant was a visitor at a friend’s house when the house was searched under a warrant for drugs. She was on the couch with a meth pipe next to her, so it was reasonable to search her lockbox under the … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: Two year delay in searching seized cell phone not unreasonable
Defendant’s cell phone was seized in April 2017 but not finally searched until April 2019. This was still reasonable under Rule 41. United States v. Dixon, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95041 (N.D. Ga. Apr. 15, 2021):
D.D.C.: 15 mo delay in cell phone search unreasonable and not saved by GFE
The government’s 15 month delay in searching defendant’s cell phone was unjustified and was not saved by the good faith exception. United States v. Wilkins, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89419 (D.D.C. May 11, 2021):
N.D.Iowa: Ten day delay in getting SW for def’s car where he was in custody and investigation was ongoing was not unreasonable
There was probable cause for the search and seizure of defendant’s vehicle for evidence of a violent crime. The fact a plain view wasn’t possible at the moment of the stop doesn’t mean there wasn’t. The police department with the … Continue reading
VI: Def walking into apt being searched with SW could be searched
Defendant who walked into an apartment being searched under a warrant could be searched himself, including the grocery bag he was carrying. People v. Matthias, 2021 V.I. LEXIS 23 (Apr. 30, 2021). Defendant’s backpack in the car couldn’t be searched … Continue reading
CA11: 24 officers raiding wrong house subject to QI
24 officers raiding the wrong house [somehow] are entitled to qualified immunity. Norris v. Hicks, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 13272 (11th Cir. May 5, 2021):
Chicago Crusader: Chicago Police Watchdog Finds Nearly 100 Misconduct Allegations Related To 2019 Raid
Chicago Crusader: Chicago Police Watchdog Finds Nearly 100 Misconduct Allegations Related To 2019 Raid by Sanjana Karanth, HuffPost. The raid was on the wrong house:
CA11: Assuming geo-location info for def’s cell phone was illegally obtained, it was harmless BRD
“We assume without deciding that the district court erred in allowing the admission of the Google geo-location data during trial because it amounted to fruit of the poisonous tree, and no exception applied. Nevertheless, Pendergrass is not entitled to a … Continue reading
W.D.Ky.: Out past curfew during BLM protests was PC for stop
Officers seeing defendant driving during a BLM protest curfew in June 2020 in Louisville had probable cause for the stop. United States v. Shrivers, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 77047 (W.D. Ky. Apr. 21, 2021).* A CI with a reliable track … Continue reading
