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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)
--Outline of Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping (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
TN: Owner of cell phone doesn’t need to be known for SW for it
Search warrants are directed at things and information, and the fact officers didn’t know the owner of the cell phone didn’t mean the warrant was invalid. The phone revealed internet searches about a homicide before it was public knowledge. State … Continue reading
E.D.N.Y.: Def gets Franks but govt also gets to show justification for protective sweep
There were mistakes in the affidavit that at least gets defendant a Franks hearing. The government, however, will get to provide more information about the justification for a protective sweep which is not confined to the four corners. United States … Continue reading
CA10: 68 days of pole camera surveillance in disability fraud case was reasonable
Suspecting VA benefits fraud, the VA OIG surveilled defendant for months and then installed a remote controlled and motion activated pole camera on top of a school across the street. They had 15 hours of video for 68 days, and … Continue reading
D.N.M.: No GFE for a Franks violation
Defendant met his Franks burden and showed a false statement in the affidavit for search warrant that was material to the probable cause finding. The statement was from the chief to the affiant. Finally, there is no good faith exception … Continue reading
OH3: Parole search authority is statutory, not coerced consent
The parole search statute governs parole searches. It is not a matter of coerced consent. State v. Harrison, 2024-Ohio-884, 2024 Ohio App. LEXIS 816 (3d Dist. Mar. 11, 2024). Civil Franks violation: “The omission of the full timeline is material … Continue reading
MA: “Any persons present” clause in SW permitted search of one who left before search but hung around
“We conclude that a search warrant authorizing a search of ‘any person present’ allows a search of any person present in the property to be searched during the execution of the search warrant, including persons present during the execution but … Continue reading
N.D.Ala.: By the time the drug dog entered the car, there already was PC
The drug dog entered the car on the second attempt. But defendant left the door open, and the smell of marijuana was evident. The officer held the dog back in case there was something hazardous in the car. Still, not … Continue reading
E.D.Pa.: In a cell phone search, cached data was within the “electronic data or memory features” of the phone as provided by the SW
Cached data on defendant’s cell phone is included in “[a]ll documents, including in electronic form, and stored communications including … photographs, videos, and any other electronic data or other memory features contained in the devices and SIM cards[.]” The search … Continue reading
NJ: Prior knowledge def probably had drugs in car didn’t require SW, and automobile exception still applied
Prior knowledge defendant might have marijuana in his car didn’t require the police to get a search warrant for the car. The automobile exception still applied. [Eight months afterward, NJ legalized marijuana.] State v. Baker, 2024 N.J. Super. LEXIS 24 … Continue reading
CA10: Evidence obtained by state in prosecution later barred by McGirt still with good faith
Defendant was originally prosecuted in Oklahoma state court for murder. After McGirt v. Oklahoma, he moved to set aside the Oklahoma conviction as being obtained without jurisdiction. In federal court, he moved to suppress the evidence obtained by the state … Continue reading
D.Kan.: Cross-designated state-federal officer was “federal officer” for assault charge during execution of SW
Assaulting a state officer cross-designated as a federal officer qualified for assaulting a federal officer during execution of a search warrant. United States v. Butler, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36172 (D. Kan. Mar. 1, 2024). The state courts did not … Continue reading
CA11: CoA granted on 2255 4A claim based on alleged prosecutorial misconduct
2255 appellant gets a certificate of appealability for the district court’s possible misapprehension of the Fourth Amendment issue he raised which included a prosecutorial misconduct claim. Jones v. United States, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 4629 (11th Cir. Feb. 27, 2024):
C.D.Cal.: Franks challenge succeeds in FIPF case
The search warrant for felon in possession was based on the officer affiant’s assertion defendant was a convicted felon but it was based on evaluation of paperwork from Georgia that showed he was a first offender without judgment of guilt … Continue reading
OH2: Allegation that search occurred before SW issued is not a Franks issue
“A second problem is that the foregoing scenario does not raise a Franks issue. If Detective Saunders did prematurely enter the house without a warrant, he may have violated the Fourth Amendment. But that act would not establish any falseness … Continue reading
WV: Police looking at the exterior of defendant’s car was not a search and violated no REP
Police looking at the exterior of defendant’s car was not a search and violated no reasonable expectation of privacy. State v. Estep, 2024 W. Va. LEXIS 92 (Feb. 20, 2024).* The trial court granted a Franks motion, but the state … Continue reading
KY: Misstatements of law not subject to Franks challenge
A misstatement of law is not subject to a Franks challenge. Search warrant affidavits are usually drafted in a hurry by nonlawyers, and it’s up to the issuing magistrate to decide whether there is a substantial basis for believing a … Continue reading
DE: Def can’t show vindictive prosecution to get names of those who allegedly provided false information to police for SW of public records
In a case involving a public official accused of misappropriating funds, there was a search warrant for office records. She claimed she was entitled to the names of those who might have provided false information to investigators for the warrant … Continue reading
FL2: Suppression under Franks reversed; not material to PC
Defendant established that there were false statements in the affidavit for warrant that ran the full spectrum from negligence to likely intentionality. But probable cause remained, even excluding what was challenged. “While the temptation to advance the prophylactic purpose of … Continue reading
E.D.Cal.: Affidavit for SW for def being a prohibited person for firearms possession doesn’t have to allege interstate commerce nexus
A warrant was issued for defendant’s home in California for proof of travel to the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. Officers found firearms and defendant was a prohibited person because of domestic violence orders. On the firearms warrant, it … Continue reading
CA8: Failure to mention CI’s convictions or payments for information wasn’t material
The warrant affiant’s failure to mention the CI was paid or had convictions wasn’t material to change the outcome of the probable cause determination. With CIs, things like that can be assumed. United States v. Riaski, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS … Continue reading