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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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Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
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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
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NACDL’s Domestic Drone Information Center
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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"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!”
"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: Franks doctrine
NY2: Franks claim has to be fully developed; it’s more than just a false statement
Franks claim fails for failure to show how the alleged false statements undermined the probable cause. “The defendant failed to meet his burden of controverting the warrant, as he failed to analyze, must less establish, that after the excise of … Continue reading
M.D.Tenn.: Failure to mention in a warrant application that CI was getting leniency is not a Franks violation
Failure to mention in a warrant application that the CI was getting leniency is not a Franks violation. (It’s practically common knowledge they probably are.) Robinson v. United States, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 174791 (M.D. Tenn. Sep. 27, 2022):
NV: Protective sweep doesn’t require a prior arrest and state didn’t articulate the RS of potential danger for it
“While we hold that a protective sweep does not require a prior arrest, we conclude that the district court correctly concluded that the search performed here was not a lawful protective sweep because it was not based on articulable facts … Continue reading
CA5: Car could be towed and inventoried rather than left at gas pumps
Officers observed two traffic violations and stopped him at gas pumps. An old arrest warrant surfaced. Leaving the car at the gas pump was not reasonable–it could be towed and inventoried. United States v. Walker, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 26405 … Continue reading
E.D.Va.: Defense counsel’s failure to file a motion to suppress not a ground to withdraw a guilty plea
It is settled in most courts that failure to pursue a motion to suppress is a ground to set aside a guilty plea. United States v. Foster, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 170198 (E.D. Va. Sep. 20, 2022).* [People plead guilty … Continue reading
IL: Smell of burnt MJ in a car in a recreational use state not PC
“We hold that the smell of the burnt cannabis, without any corroborating factors, is not enough to establish probable cause to search the vehicle, and the court did not err in granting the motion to suppress. This finding comports with … Continue reading
Cal.4th: SW papers for cell site simulators remain under seal because CIs are identified in there
EFF sued for access to search warrant materials that led to use of cell site simulators. The court finds that the protection of named CIs in the papers still needs to be protected, and they remain under seal. Electronic Frontier … Continue reading
DC: Tracking def off his WMATA fair card was like Knotts and reasonable
Police use of information off of defendant’s WMATA fare card first to find him to arrest him for a robbery on a train and then to place him on a train at the time of the robbery was reasonable. This … Continue reading
OH11: Driver not matching owner of car not RS
Just because the driver isn’t the owner doesn’t mean the car is stolen. See Kansas v. Glover. This was extending the stop without reasonable suspicion. State v. Dunlap, 2022-Ohio-3007, 2022 Ohio App. LEXIS 2828 (11th Dist. Aug. 29, 2022); State … Continue reading
W.D.Pa.: A request to show hands requires RS
The facts not being in dispute, no hearing was required on defendant’s motion to suppress. A request to show hands required reasonable suspicion. United States v. Chambers, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 148692 (W.D. Pa. Aug. 19, 2022). Defendant alluded to … Continue reading
MI: No RS for getting def out of car for a frisk
Defendant’s stop was justified, but getting him out of the vehicle for a frisk was not. Suppressed. People v. Turner, 2022 Mich. App. LEXIS 4943 (Aug. 18, 2022) (2-1). On the totality, defendant consented to an interview in his own … Continue reading
D.N.J.: Holding a vehicle 4 days before searching it was not unreasonable
“While law enforcement held the Durango for four days after the seizure before searching it pursuant to a warrant, this delay did not render the continuing seizure of the Durango unreasonable. See Donahue, 764 F.3d at 300-01 (collecting cases and … Continue reading
W.D.N.Y.: 4A doesn’t protect a jail cell shakedown search; procedural due process does not apply
Defendant’s jail cell was subjected to a shakedown search, and it was reasonable. His claim of procedural due process safeguards come from civil cases and don’t apply. United States v. Arrington, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 142770 (W.D.N.Y. Aug. 10, 2022). … Continue reading
D.V.I.: Boat without lights at night is subject to stop
A boat operating at night without lights in U.S. Customs waters violates federal law and it is subject to stop. United States v. Romero-Amaro, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140477 (D.V.I. Aug. 8, 2022). In the tire chalking case, nominal damages … Continue reading
CA5: An intimidating police presence is not a seizure
An intimidating police presence is not a seizure. Tyson v. Cty. of Sabine, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 20902 (5th Cir. July 28, 2022). Defense counsel can’t be ineffective for not taking depositions in his criminal case to develop his search … Continue reading
TX finally approves of anticipatory warrants
Texas high court finally approves of anticipatory warrants. Parker v. State, 2022 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 470 (July 27, 2022). On his motion for reconsideration, defendant’s Franks challenge still fails. There’s probable cause without the challenged information. “Courts long have … Continue reading
D.Md.: Cell phone dump on a SW wasn’t shown to be overbroad
A cell phone dump after a search warrant wasn’t necessarily overbroad, and didn’t show it. “More particularity was impractical, and was not required.” United States v. Nelson, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 125994 (D. Md. July 15, 2022). Officers who used … Continue reading
DE: People inside isn’t exigency for nighttime SW
The justification for a nighttime search warrant was insufficient as a matter of law. The mere presence of people in the house is not exigency. State v. Harrison, 2022 Del. Super. LEXIS 302 (July 14, 2022). The USMJ found defendant … Continue reading
CA8: Omission of a fact not yet known is not a Franks violation
A detective’s omission of a critical fact that was not yet known is not a Franks violation. “What is undisputed, at least at this point, is that Detective Bowles did not actually know that the fire captain had described the … Continue reading
S.D.Ind.: Inordinate delay in producing cell phone search discovery doesn’t justify dismissal
The government’s untimely discovery response to defendant’s repeated requests for the product of his cell phone search doesn’t warrant dismissal of the indictment. Probable cause was shown for the cell phone search, and the motion to suppress is denied. United … Continue reading
