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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© 2003-22,
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)
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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
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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
ID: Calling for drug dog before RS existed extended the stop
During the traffic stop, the diversion to call for a drug dog was without reasonable suspicion and it extended the stop. State v. Still, 166 Idaho 351, 458 P.3d 220 (App. 2019), is overruled. State v. Karst, 2022 Ida. LEXIS … Continue reading
W.D.N.C.: § 1983 claim officers dented a door during a raid is not a 4A violation
Claim officers denting a door during a raid is not a Fourth Amendment violation. Fulbright v. Hodges, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85727 (W.D.N.C. May 12, 2022):
IA: Admission of SW affidavit at trial with CI’s version violated confrontation
Admission of the search warrant affidavit here at trial with inadmissible hearsay of the CI was a violation of confrontation. State v. Martinez, 2022 Iowa App. LEXIS 410 (May 11, 2022). These search warrant materials remain sealed for one year. … Continue reading
CA11: Pressing key fob found during search of home to find car didn’t violate 4A
Pressing the key fob found inside during a search to locate the car outside was reasonable under the automobile exception. United States v. Fortson, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 11176 (11th Cir. Apr. 25, 2022). “Defendant’s constitutional rights were not violated … Continue reading
Rawstory: ‘Outrageous’: Judges slam FBI for not breaking down rich suspect’s front door to preserve ‘aesthetics’
Rawstory: ‘Outrageous’: Judges slam FBI for not breaking down rich suspect’s front door to preserve ‘aesthetics’ by Matthew Chapman (argument video, too):
NC: Potential for destruction of car keys was not exigency here
Defendant had a reasonable expectation of privacy in a house he was visiting along with others late at night. When the police knocked, he answered the door, and that connoted some control over the premises. His disclaimer of ownership of … Continue reading
D.Nev.: Documents a part of the SW have to be referred to and attached
“For another document to be considered part of a ‘warrant,’ it must be (1) incorporated by reference to the search warrant and (2) accompany the search warrant both when it is authorized by the judge and when the search warrant … Continue reading
D.D.C.: No RS for sniff of luggage carried by Amtrak passenger
On the whole, there wasn’t reasonable suspicion for the dog sniff of the luggage they were carrying. Moreover, the court does not find they consented to it. The court declines to credit the testimony of the officer about nervousness and … Continue reading
CA9: Neighbor’s video of SWAT team arrival for search was properly excluded at trial for confusion of issues
Defendant’s neighbor recorded the SWAT team arrival and participating in the execution of the search warrant from outside the house. Defendant’s offer of the video at trial was rejected. “Permitting the jury to see that the police who were executing … Continue reading
D.Md.: Covid helped explain the delay in SW for cell phone search
This cell phone was reasonably seized under a warrant. The second warrant was issued a few weeks later, but, because of covid, the delay was reasonable. United States v. Reaves, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43243 (D.Md. Mar. 9, 2022). “Defendant … Continue reading
NY Co.: Failure to execute SW in ten days voids it
The search warrant wasn’t executed within 10 days as required by statute where it had to be returned to the court if not. Suppressed. People v. Tonner, 2022 NY Slip Op 50175(U), 2022 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 833 (N.Y. Co. Feb. … Continue reading
N.D.Ill.: Part of this search of the wrong house under a SW dismissed
The target of this search had moved, so this was the search of the wrong house. Among a host of issues, service of an alleged illegible warrant is governed by qualified immunity. It was signed by a judge. The warrant … Continue reading
TN: Smell of drugs during execution of SW permits detaining occupants
Based on the smell of drugs when executing a search warrant, the officers had the authority to detain the occupants. Linsey v. State, 2022 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 79 (Feb. 25, 2022). Defendant’s stop was reasonable. Shots had been reported … Continue reading
D.Nev.: SW clearly did not authorize downloading of iPhone and iPad at the place of search; no good faith exception
The officer thought the warrant authorized downloading on the premises, but it obviously did not. This is gross negligence, and the good faith exception does not apply. Defendant wasn’t in custody and was not entitled to a Miranda warning when … Continue reading
W.D.Pa.: SW for what turned out to be multiunit apts is suppressed, and no GFE
The multi-unit character of the property being searched under a warrant wasn’t immediately apparent to the officers, or so they said. The court doesn’t credit that because they knew defendant was in “apartment 3” on the third floor. Post-search follow-up … Continue reading
M.D.Fla.: GFE applies to warrant execution issues
Officers had a search warrant for the premises of a house, and an outbuilding off the curtilage was searched, too. “Defendant next argues that the officers exceeded the scope of the search warrant because the converted shed was outside of … Continue reading
CA7: Officers not liable for search of wrong apartment in reliance on SW description
In a § 1983 case over a search of the wrong apartment, the affidavit for the search warrant could be relied upon in good faith. The mistake was negligent at best, and it didn’t support civil liability here. The officers … Continue reading
CA1: GFE applies to warrant execution issues
The First Circuit makes clear that the good faith exception applies to warrant execution issues despite Leon’s statement it should not. (Not the first court to hold this.) United States v. Pimentel, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 4350 (1st Cir. Feb. … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: A reasonably conducted eviction is not a 4A violation
“Most eviction-type seizures do not violate the Fourth Amendment. Thomas v. Cohen, 304 F.3d 563, 574 (6th Cir. 2002) (citing Soldal v. Cook County, 506 U.S. 56, 71, 113 S. Ct. 538, 121 L. Ed. 2d 450 (1992)). Seizing an … Continue reading
