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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 -
© 2003-25,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 500,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 47,000 posts since 2003 (30,000+ on WordPress as of 12/31/24) -
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Fourth Amendment cases,
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Congressional Research Service:
--Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
--Overview of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
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Section 1983 Blog -
"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, 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] -
“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: Probable cause
CA1: Video of SW execution sufficiently authenticated for trial
The video of execution of the search warrant was sufficiently authenticated to be admissible at trial despite coming in through a witness other than the one who took it. United States v. Reyes-Rosario, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 16316 (1st Cir. … Continue reading
KS: Arrest and search were in KCMO, trial in KCKS; 4A applies no matter what; no state law issues
Conflict of laws: Defendant’s arrest and search was in Kansas City, Missouri, but his offense was tried in Kansas City, Kansas. State law on this doesn’t matter. Applying the Fourth Amendment, it was all legal. State v. Green, 2025 Kan. … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Search incident not invalid even though officer would have just issued citation for possession of MJ
Defendant was parked at an intersection in the Bronx and was consuming marijuana in the car on the street, a state offense. The officer had the authority to conduct a search of the car even though he was likely only … Continue reading
TX4: State can’t rely on community caretaking function where it didn’t make a record below
The state couldn’t rely on the community caretaking function exception on appeal where it didn’t develop the record for it below. State v. Young, 2025 Tex. App. LEXIS 4196 (Tex. App. – San Antonio June 18, 2025). Defendant can’t make … Continue reading
CA10: Ptf has burden on “clearly established law” and failed
The plaintiff in a § 1983 case has the burden on clearly established law, and here the showing completely failed. “Anemic.” Bailey v. Beale, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 14449 (10th Cir. June 12, 2025).* “[T]he individual officers did not violate … Continue reading
CA11: “[T]he presence of contradictory evidence does not bar a finding of probable cause”; It must refute it
“[T]he presence of contradictory evidence does not bar a finding of probable cause.” It must refute it. Scott v. City of Miami, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 14381 (11th Cir. June 11, 2025):
OR: State didn’t develop alternative search theory just by mentioning it
The state didn’t sufficiently develop search incident as an alternative theory to sustain the search merely by mentioning it. State v. Ribota, 341 Or. App. 32 (June 4, 2025). There is a fact question for trial for excessive force, and … Continue reading
D.Md.: Delaying three years to indict after seizure compromised defense enough that speedy trial was violated
Defendant’s backpack was searched in 2017, but he wasn’t indicted until 2020, and his case lingered. The officer’s testimony about the search is hazy and inconclusive enough that the court finds cause to dismiss for a speedy trial violation. The … Continue reading
S.D.Ohio: Casting state court’s failure to follow 4A precedent more closely as a due process violation still Stone barred
2254 petitioner’s due process claim that the state court denied due process by not following precedent was barred by Stone. Allen v. Warden, SE. Corr. Inst., 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 104131 (S.D. Ohio June 2, 2025). Defense counsel wasn’t ineffective … Continue reading
N.D.Ohio: Visitor getting high and passing out on couch doesn’t give standing to challenge search of premises
Defendant got high and fell asleep on the couch, and he was there when the raid occurred. He didn’t have standing. United States v. Taylor, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 103820 (N.D. Ohio June 2, 2025). The government’s motion to reconsider … Continue reading
E.D.Va.: Lack of a recording for SW application in violation of state law didn’t violate 4A
There was no recording of the showing of probable cause for this state warrant that became a part of a federal prosecution. The lack of a recording isn’t fatal to the showing of probable cause found by the issuing magistrate … Continue reading
CA6: Two officers with separate PC can use one warrant
When two officers have separate probable cause to search, they don’t need separate search warrants, as long as the description covers their purpose. At least qualified immunity applies here. Fitzpatrick v. Hanney, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 13214 (6th Cir. May … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: PC showing was thin, but good enough for the GFE
The probable cause showing was thin, but it was enough, and the good faith exception applies in any event. United States v. Mills, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102174 (E.D. Mich. May 29, 2025)*:
TX5: No standing in a house where def under a no contact order to stay out
Defendant had no standing to contest the search of a house he was under a no contact order to stay away from. Yet, he was found there. Coggins v. State, 2025 Tex. App. LEXIS 3587 (Tex. App. – Dallas May … Continue reading
MT: No RS for continued stop, but def consented to it
The officer’s observation of “a driver’s nervousness, an unspecified prior history of drug use, and the officer’s assertion that the driver failed to pull over quickly enough do not alone combine to show particularized suspicion of illegal drug activity.” Nevertheless, … Continue reading
M.D.Fla.: Incomplete PC showing here was essentially knowing, so motion to suppress granted
The police here presented incomplete probable cause here that a phone call could have corrected. Since the officer knew it (and that probable cause might be lacking) and said he was charging defendant anyway, the motion to suppress the automobile … Continue reading
S.D.Ind.: No REP in ALPR tracking; not as intrusive as GPS
Tracking defendant’s vehicle with automatic license plate readers can’t be equated with GPS placement, so Jones distinguished. There’s no reasonable expectation of privacy in an LPN. There is also interesting Franks and staleness issues. Defendant got a Franks hearing but … Continue reading
GA: GPS data in a child porn image on def’s phone was PC to search his house
GPS data in a child porn image on defendant’s phone was probable cause to search his house. Bibbs v. State, 2025 Ga. App. LEXIS 186 (May 13, 2025). Briefly crossing the centerline is not an offense unless it appears unsafe. … Continue reading
E.D.Wis.: The court just doesn’t buy that the officer smelled raw marijuana, justifying a search
“This is not to say that Officer Rukamp was lying. The issue before the court is not whether the defense has proved that the officer lied; the issue is whether the government has met its burden of proof. In granting … Continue reading