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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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)
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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)
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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.Ga.: PC for search of def’s car didn’t dissipate just because another person came into the case
Defendant’s [creative] argument that the probable cause for search of defendant’s car dissipated when another person came into the equation is rejected. In fact, it appears contemplated. United States v. Henley, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 105138 (N.D. Ga. May 19, … Continue reading
WI: Failure to call one officer was not IAC because it wouldn’t change the outcome of suppression hearing
The record supported that defendant consented to the search of his car. The IAC claim was denied because the failure to call one of the officers would not have changed the outcome. State v. Floyd, 2017 WI 78, 2017 Wisc. … Continue reading
MA: No PC shown for text messages, but PC shown for CSLI information
The state could not show that defendant’s text messages would show his connection with a murder, so the text messages were properly suppressed. The ubiquity of cell phones, however, does provide probable cause to believe that it might show the … Continue reading
OH2: Motion to suppress was vague and def didn’t clarify at hearing; appeal argument waived
The motion to suppress was vague, and defendant got a hearing. When the prosecutor complained about the vagueness and what the issues were, defense counsel didn’t elaborate. On appeal, the issues were more focused. The court of appeals takes this … Continue reading
PA can’t decide (tie vote) whether GFE permits use of product of a search where the underlying probable cause proves completely false
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirms on an equally divided vote whether suppression is required under the state constitution where the officer relied in good faith on an affidavit that turned out to be completely wrong. The opinion supporting affirmance notes … Continue reading
D.Md.: Off-duty police officer’s in-person tip of possible DWI was RS
Off-duty police officer’s in person tip of possible drunk driver was reasonable suspicion for stop. United States v. Hernández-Ayala, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95387 (D. Md. June 21, 2017). “[T]his Court also finds under the totality of the circumstances that … Continue reading
PA: Nervousness alone isn’t reasonable suspicion
Nervousness alone isn’t reasonable suspicion. Commonwealth v. Morrison, 2017 PA Super 194, 2017 Pa. Super. LEXIS 456 (June 21, 2017). Officers plainly had probable cause to search defendant’s apartment, as the affidavit for the search warrant application stated that there … Continue reading
OH3: Several months of pole camera surveillance violated no REP
Pole camera surveillance for several months from a telephone pole across from defendant’s house violated no Fourth Amendment expectation of privacy. The view of his house was no different than could be seen by any passersby. State v. Thomas, 2017-Ohio-4356, … Continue reading
W.D.Mo.: SW for car unnecessary because there was PC
There was probable cause for search of defendant’s car, and that makes the search warrant for the car moot as legally unnecessary. United States v. Hudson, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91449 (W.D. Mo. Apr. 27, 2017), adopted, 2017 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading
AK: Driver’s running from a traffic stop alone didn’t create RS to frisk or search passengers
The driver of the pickup defendant was riding in was stopped for a seatbelt violation, and the driver fled on foot. The Alaska State Trooper gave chase but couldn’t keep up. He came back to the vehicle where the two … Continue reading
W.D.Mo.: Observed drug deals with CI showed reliability and lack of staleness of information
A state court judge issued a tracking warrant for defendant’s car based on a heavily corroborated CI who did drug deals with the defendant while LEOs watched. This “shows that the confidential information was reliable and that the information was … Continue reading
M.D.Pa.: Def’s matching citizen informant’s description and location was RS, and his flight was PC
The detailed description given by a 911 calling citizen informant was reasonable suspicion when defendant was seen matching the description. When police approached him, defendant ran, and that was probable cause. United States v. King, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88514 … Continue reading
NC: Warrantless blood draw from unconscious driver violated 4A
“We now address the application of the Supreme Court’s decisions in Birchfield v. North Dakota and Missouri v. McNeely to the situation at bar, specifically, the warrantless blood draw from defendant for purposes of determining blood alcohol content. We hold … Continue reading
ND: Method of packaging MJ was sufficient PC for delivery, not just possession
The method of packaging marijuana was probable cause to believe it was for sale and not misdemeanor possession. State v. Turbeville, 2017 ND 139, 2017 N.D. LEXIS 146 (June 9, 2017). The CIs were adequately corroborated in this long term … Continue reading
W.D.Tex.: County Jail’s acceptance of ICE detainees without PC violates 4A
Bexar County jail’s acceptance of ICE detainers without a showing probable cause for the detention violates the Fourth Amendment. The collective knowledge doctrine doesn’t apply where there isn’t any communication between ICE and the jail other than the jail taking … Continue reading
DE: Positive probation drug screen 15 days earlier, with nothing more, wasn’t RS for a probation search of the house
Positive probation drug screen 15 days earlier, with nothing more, wasn’t reasonable suspicion for a probation search of the house. State v. Fax, 2017 Del. Super. LEXIS 270 (June 2, 2017). Geolocation information from a coconspirator’s cell phone was used … Continue reading
MO: Stop requires RS but arrest requires PC
“Here, the trial court erred in requiring the Director to prove there was reasonable suspicion to justify stopping Williams’ vehicle. The Director was only required to prove there was probable cause to arrest Williams for driving in violation of an … Continue reading
MI: Search of def’s car was harmless compared to uncontested search of house
Even if the search of defendant’s car violated the Fourth Amendment, the uncontested search of his house did not, and that provides overwhelming evidence of guilt. Thus, the car search is harmless at best. Johnson v. State, 2017 Miss. App. … Continue reading