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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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--Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
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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) -
“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: Warrant execution
CA11: QI for FBI SWAT raiding wrong house at 3:30 am
“In Hartsfield, we explained that an officer who makes ‘reasonable effort[s] to ascertain and identify the’ target address of a valid search warrant complies with the Fourth Amendment even if error is ultimately not averted. 50 F.3d at 954-55 (quoting … Continue reading
N.D.Ohio: Heroin and three guns in plain view was exigency for entry with child alone inside
Police knowing that defendant’s 12-year-old son was in the house alone with a significant quantity of heroin and three firearms all in plain view was exigency for entry. There also previous complaints to Family Services. United States v. Woodard, 2024 … Continue reading
E.D.N.Y.: The search of def’s house started about 6:10 am; the camera time hadn’t been adjusted for DST
Defendant submitted that the search of his house started at 5:00 am. The officers and virtually all the evidence showed it started at 6:10 am. The metadata on some photographs showed 5:16 am. The court finds the camera’s time hadn’t … Continue reading
CA7: Warranted strip search in a private secure setting was conducted reasonably
“Shaw raises three responses, but they are unavailing. First, he contends that the officers did not follow Wisconsin and local laws that instruct officers to obtain written authorization from a supervisor before a strip search. But a violation of state … Continue reading
Reason: Judge Quashes Felony Murder Charges Against Former Houston Cop Whose Lies Led to a Deadly 2019 Drug Raid
Reason: Judge Quashes Felony Murder Charges Against Former Houston Cop Whose Lies Led to a Deadly 2019 Drug Raid by Jacob Sullen (“Gerald Goines’ lawyers argued that the indictment did not adequately specify the underlying felony of tampering with a … Continue reading
W.D.Wash.: DNA warrant isssued with PC not quashed before execution
Because there is probable cause for defendant’s DNA warrant, the court declines to quash it before execution, let alone even discuss what the standard would be to do so. United States v. Campbell, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53075 (W.D. Wash. … Continue reading
Redacted SW and affidavit for LR Airport Director’s house
A few lawyer friends elsewhere have asked; here’s the unsealed and redacted search warrant for the ATF raid of the Little Rock Airport Executive Director’s house that led to his death during the raid earlier this week. See ArkTimes: Illegal … Continue reading
CA2: District court erred in suppressing a SW executed at 6 am where SW and Rule 41 say 6 am to 10 pm
This search warrant was executed at 6 am, and the district court erred in granting the motion to suppress. “While 6:00 a.m. is the earliest time provided, it cannot be said that executing a warrant in accordance with its text–which … Continue reading
D.Kan.: Cross-designated state-federal officer was “federal officer” for assault charge during execution of SW
Assaulting a state officer cross-designated as a federal officer qualified for assaulting a federal officer during execution of a search warrant. United States v. Butler, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36172 (D. Kan. Mar. 1, 2024). The state courts did not … Continue reading
WA: Merely holding on to DL doesn’t make stop a detention; “context matters”
“Officer Ayers’s language would have assured a reasonable person that the officer was not making a show of authority: the officer assured Mr. Taylor he was not a suspect, but wanted to ‘get [his] name just so we have that … Continue reading
Cal.5: Defective notice of Facebook warrant under CalECPA doesn’t require suppression
Defendant’s Facebook account was accessed by a search warrant issued under CalECPA. The notice provision was not complied with by the state, but the court declines to suppress here. The standard for suppression in CalECPA is the same as for … Continue reading
OH2: Municipal Court can’t issue SW for out-of-state records
An Ohio municipal court does not have authority to issue a search warrant for collection of records from out of state. State v. Worthan, 2024-Ohio-21, 2024 Ohio App. LEXIS 33 (2d Dist. Jan. 5, 2024). Defendant approached the officers and … Continue reading
MS: One of two SWs for def’s business was accidentally destroyed but not in bad faith; officers getting second SW were justified
Here there were two search warrants: One for suite E and another for both suites D & E to be sure they were searching the right premises. Execution of the suite E warrant led officers to get another for both. … Continue reading
Reason: This Innocent Woman Is on the Hook for Thousands After a SWAT Team Destroyed Her Home
Reason: This Innocent Woman Is on the Hook for Thousands After a SWAT Team Destroyed Her Home by Billy Binion (“In June of 2022, law enforcement arrived at a modest home on East Calvert Street in South Bend, Indiana. They … Continue reading
AR: HBO film crew ride-along on drug raid doesn’t lead to suppression
An HBO film crew was doing a ride-along with the DEA and local DTF officers for the making of “Meth Storm.” Defendant raises via post-conviction that the ride-along film crew violated the Fourth Amendment and the state constitution. The court … Continue reading
D.Haw.: State officers allegedly violating state law in warrant process or execution irrelevant under 4A
The fact state officers might have violated state law in executing the warrant wasn’t material to the Fourth Amendment reasonableness requirement. United States v. Miske, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 203981 (D. Haw. Nov. 14, 2023).* There was reasonable suspicion or … Continue reading
CA5: After a fire at def’s trailer, his false statements as to his whereabouts added to PC for SW for cell phone
Defendant lived at a trailer that burned, and a body was found inside. After it was determined that he gave false information about his whereabouts that day, state officers got a search warrant for his cell phone and location information. … Continue reading
D.Minn.: There is no duty under Brady for officers executing a SW to seize exculpatory evidence, too
The government executed a search warrant for emails on defendant’s computer. The searching officers have no duty to seize exculpatory information when they execute the warrant. “All Brady requires is that if the prosecution seized those emails, it turn over … Continue reading
CA4: No absolute immunity for a judge involved in search of ex’s property over their divorce
“We consider in this appeal whether a judge who participates in the search of a litigant’s home is entitled to judicial immunity for actions related to the search. Judge Louise Goldston went to Matthew Gibson’s residence to look for items … Continue reading
D.D.C.: Telling def the SW for his phone required his passcode was unreasonable because it didn’t
Defendant was in U.S. diplomatic service in Mexico, and he was accused of sex with drugged women there. Proof was ultimately found on his phone with a search warrant on his return to the U.S. Officers returned to his hotel … Continue reading