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- CA3: Ptf was arrested on an apparent but recalled warrant, then officers confirmed it and let him go; the arrest was reasonable
- N.D.Ohio: Failure to serve state SW within state mandated time not 4A violation
- NY1: Gunshot through floor from apartment above was exigency
- Reason: Most Civil Forfeiture Victims Never See the Inside of a Courtroom
- CA8: Admission of anonymous tip that led to stop violated Confrontation Clause
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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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Congressional Research Service:
--Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
--Overview of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (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: Franks doctrine
MA: Mere denial is not a “substantial preliminary showing” for Franks
The issuing magistrate had probable cause to issue a search warrant for possible child pornography because the affidavit contained the officer’s description of an image depicting nude juveniles from 13-15 years, and the tip provider employee’s personal observation of the … Continue reading
S.D.Fla.: A search for stored video evidence must necessarily be broad; where could it be stored?
A search for stored video evidence must necessarily be broad because of the types of things on which it could be stored. United States v. Mila, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84465 (S.D. Fla. Apr. 4, 2024), adopted, 2024 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading
A word about Franks issues
Defendant’s quibbling¹ over the word choices in the affidavit didn’t provide a “substantial preliminary showing” for Franks. Review shows it wasn’t even inaccurate. United States v. Pettigrew, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 11328 (6th Cir. May 7, 2024).* [¹My choice of … Continue reading
CA5: Franks civil case pleads enough to overcome QI
Plaintiff showed sufficient facts to support a § 1983 Franks v. Delaware claim for false statements supporting probable cause for arrest. Franks is clearly established law. Hughes v. Garcia, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 10922 (5th Cir. May 3, 2024). “Based … Continue reading
D.P.R.: Def waived his Franks by providing nothing to show what’s what
“Although Defendant suggests that a Franks-like challenge was made during the suppression hearings in the Puerto Rico state court, he fails to develop any type of Franks argument in this case. Indeed, Defendant does not provide copies of the search … Continue reading
D.Kan.: Preliminary hearing moots claim of lack of PC for arrest
If an arrest lacks probable cause, the preliminary hearing can moot that. Taylor v. Szewc, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 57791 (D. Kan. Mar. 29, 2024). Omitted information about the CI doesn’t support this Franks challenge. United States v. Williams, 2024 … Continue reading
CA4: Tracking order using cell site simulator with PC was reasonable
The use of a cell site simulator to track defendant’s phone was conducted by a tracking order issued under state law with probable cause. Tracking him led the police to his place, and then a search warrant issued for the … Continue reading
D.Me.: Alleged statutory violation doesn’t warrant exclusionary rule
In a search of medical records, records were seized in excess of the scope of a prior Patient Records Order for information other than patient drug abuse, but that did not warrant suppression here because the Fourth Amendment was not … Continue reading
CA6: Asking def before a patdown during arrest what he had on him wasn’t barred by Miranda
Asking defendant before a patdown during arrest what he had on him wasn’t barred by Miranda. United States v. Lester, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 9162 (6th Cir. Apr. 16, 2024). The evidence supports the trial court’s conclusion defendant consented to … Continue reading
D.N.M.: Three Franks challenges, one successful
Defendant succeeds in his Franks challenge. After a hearing, it was more likely than not that there was a false statement at least recklessly made, and it was material: “For these reasons, the Court finds that the false statement included … Continue reading
CA7: No IAC in failure to more aggressively pursue Franks challenge
Defense counsel acted reasonably in how he pursued defendant’s suppression motion founded on Franks in not arguing more stringently for bad faith. Here, defendant was charged in state court with child pornography. His motion to suppress the search was granted. … Continue reading
N.D.Ohio: Heroin and three guns in plain view was exigency for entry with child alone inside
Police knowing that defendant’s 12-year-old son was in the house alone with a significant quantity of heroin and three firearms all in plain view was exigency for entry. There also previous complaints to Family Services. United States v. Woodard, 2024 … Continue reading
CA9: Officer stopping to check on an already stopped motorcycle wasn’t a seizure
Defendant’s motorcycle was already stopped on the side of the road. The officer pulling up to check on him wasn’t a seizure. United States v. Melgoza, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 8384 (9th Cir. Apr. 8, 2024). FISA warrants have a … Continue reading
OH5: A replevin action can’t be used to suppress evidence seized by SW
A replevin action can’t be used to suppress evidence seized by search warrant. Glass v. Del. Cty. Sheriff’s Office, 2024-Ohio-1301, 2024 Ohio App. LEXIS 1235 (5th Dist. Apr. 4, 2024). Defendant fails his Franks burden, and the warrant wasn’t stale. … Continue reading
CA10: Def’s possession of a gun six days ago can add to RS now
In the reasonable suspicion calculus, the fact defendant had a gun six days earlier can be a factor in reasonable suspicion now. United States v. Minners, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 7734 (10th Cir. Apr. 2, 2024). Plaintiffs were loaded on … Continue reading
CA3: Inference of nexus to property in drug cases
Inference of nexus to property drug cases in CA3: “[T]he Third Circuit has established a test for district courts to assess the reasonableness of such an inference—the so-called Burton standard. The ‘application of this inference is based on evidence supporting … Continue reading