September 2026 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Archives
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Recent Posts
- WaPo: Americans have turned against police cameras that track license plates, new survey shows
- W.D.Tex.: What is the duty of the neutral and detached magistrate?
- D.Me.: Yes, more investigation could have been done, but there’s still PC on what there was
- CA3: Brady doesn’t apply to SW materials
- E.D.Mich.: Person a cell phone was given to as gift could consent to search
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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2015-17) (then discontinued)
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by John Wesley Hall
Criminal Defense Lawyer and
Search and seizure law consultant
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: forhall @ aol.com
Search and Seizure (6th ed. 2025)
www.johnwesleyhall.com -
© 2003-26,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 600,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 50,000 posts since 2003 (29,000 on WordPress as of 12/31/25) -
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Fourth Amendment cases, citations, and links -
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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
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General (many free):
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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)
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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 -
"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)
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“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] -
“Children grow up thinking the adult world is ordered, rational, fit for purpose. It’s crap. Becoming a man is realising that it’s all rotten. Realising how to celebrate that rottenness, that’s freedom.”
– John le Carré, The Night Manager (1993), line by Richard Roper -
"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) -
The book was dedicated in the first (1982) and sixth (2025) editions to Justin William Hall (1975-2025). He was three when this project started in 1978.
Website design by Wally Waller, Colorado Springs. 
Category Archives: Probable cause
N.D.N.Y.: Def’s additional exculpatory facts don’t undermine PC
There was plenty of probable cause for defendant’s arrest in his house based on statements and what the police learned in their child pornography investigation. “On top of that, the images already recovered from defendant’s devices were also more than … Continue reading
OH12: Smell of burning MJ from a car is PC even in a MMJ state
“The smell of marijuana, alone, by a person qualified to recognize the odor, is sufficient to establish probable cause to conduct a search. … The odor of burnt marijuana was indicative of probable cause in this situation even though Caldwell … Continue reading
OR: When defense raises lack of oath or affirmation for SW, burden is on state to prove SW was properly issued
When the defense challenges the validity of the warrant for lack of oath or affirmation, that’s tantamount to a warrantless search allegation, so the court concludes the burden should be on the state to go forward. State v. Perrodin, 315 … Continue reading
W.D.Ark.: 16 mo. delay in forensic search of electronics was not unreasonable; PC “remained viable”
The omitted facts from the affidavit for defendant’s child pornography search warrant had no bearing on the probable cause determination, so the Franks challenge fails. Defendant’s claim that the affidavit’s reference to two successful downloads of child pornography was false … Continue reading
NY Bronx: No SW needed to test abandoned DNA
The state did not need a search warrant to test DNA retrieved from an abandoned cigarette butt. Carpenter doesn’t remotely apply. People v. Mendez, 2021 NY Slip Op 21275, 2021 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 5148 (Bronx Co. Oct. 13, 2021). Defendant … Continue reading
CA6: One controlled buy from a house is PC for SW
One controlled buy is probable cause for a search warrant of a house. Regular drug trafficking from there not required. United States v. Roberts, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 30737 (6th Cir. Oct. 12, 2021). Mere disagreement with the state court’s … Continue reading
CA9: Retired LEO as civilian employee qualified under collective knowledge
A retired LEO experienced in drug cases who was now a civilian employee of the department could here be included within the collective knowledge doctrine. United States v. McCoy, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 30364 (9th Cir. Oct. 12, 2021). Probable … Continue reading
D.Minn.: On “four corners review,” the affidavit is not misleading and it shows PC
On four corners review of the affidavit for search warrant, “This Court concludes that the statements made in the affidavit about Defendant living at the Euclid address were not untruthful or recklessly made; therefore, they permissibly allowed a judicial officer … Continue reading
DC: PC from the fair inference def had more than the “permissible amount” of MJ
“From all the foregoing, Officer Lojacono could reasonably believe that there was a fair probability that the amount of marijuana he saw in the car exceeded the legally permissible amount” of two ounces. Thus, the automobile exception applied. Harris v. … Continue reading
CA1: Arrest for DV was with PC despite disputed self-defense claim
Plaintiff was arrested for domestic violence, asserting he was defending himself. When the state charges were dropped, he sued the officer. His version of the facts do not unequivocally support self-defense or defense of premises, so the officer gets qualified … Continue reading
IL: No statutory right to REP in telephone call from police station
As to testimony about an overheard phone call from the police station: “While conceding that he had no reasonable expectation of privacy in his phone conversation with his aunt, defendant maintains that such evidence was inadmissible because the police were … Continue reading
CA10: High speed chase justifies search under automobile exception
A high speed chase justifies an automobile exception search of the car when it’s finally stopped. Here there was a dog alert before. United States v. Chavez, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 29287 (10th Cir. Sept. 28, 2021). The rules of … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Listing inventory on police report and not inventory sheet not unreasonable
“Therefore, the officers’ decision to list the items recovered during the inventory search in the Incident Report and not on the Impound Report does not invalidate the inventory search.” United States v. Morris, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 182946 (E.D.Mich. Sept. … Continue reading
OR: Dog sniff during traffic stop lacked any RS
“Here, officers deployed a drug-detection dog during a traffic stop for failing to signal continuously for at least 100 feet before turning-without articulating any independent constitutional justification. Moreover, the state has not identified any theory or pointed us to any … Continue reading
E.D.Wis.: Def had no REP in sister’s bedroom
Defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy to contest the search of his sister’s bedroom. United States v. Slater, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 180673 (E.D.Wis. Sept. 22, 2021). There was probable cause for search of defendant’s car, and the opportunity … Continue reading
S.D.Cal.: NCIS obtained def’s phone passcode by 4A violation
NCIS obtained defendant’s passcode for his iPhone 6 by a Fourth Amendment violation by seeking to see him enter it when he was consciously trying to avoid them seeing it. Inevitable discovery also does not apply. United States v. Booker, … Continue reading
CA1: Collective knowledge isn’t required of all officers, just those involved
Collective knowledge is not required of all the officers involved in the case, just the one with knowledge telling the one making the stop. Here there was reasonable suspicion for the stop. United States v. Cruz-Rivera, 19-1465 & 19-1509 (1st … Continue reading
IN: With three people in the vehicle faint smell of MJ wasn’t as to this def
Some smell of marijuana in car with three people didn’t establish probable cause without the officer being able to say it came from defendant’s person. I.G. v. State, 21A-JV-479 (Ind. App. Sept. 10, 2021). Defendant ran from a fight in … Continue reading
DE: Officer’s vague and untimely ID of MJ wasn’t PC here
Officer’s vague and untimely identification of the odor of marijuana was not probable cause in itself on the totality of these circumstances. Juliano v. State, 320, 2019 (Del. Sept. 10, 2021):
IN: Training of smell of MJ enough for PC
The distinctive smell of marijuana is enough for probable cause, and the officer’s training is enough to tell it. Bunnell v. State, 2021 Ind. LEXIS 545 (Sept. 2, 2021):