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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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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)
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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
N.D.Cal.: Failure to pursue alleged traffic violation made stop unreasonable
Defendant was stopped ostensibly for a traffic violation, and he was handcuffed and the officers literally did nothing to investigate that–they didn’t even ask for his license and registration. Despite the fact Whren says pretext doesn’t matter, that lack of … Continue reading
IA: RS: “cries of ‘please help me, don’t hurt me’ could lead an officer to infer that an assault is taking place”
Caller’s “cries of ‘please help me, don’t hurt me’ could lead an officer to infer that an assault is taking place.” That was reasonable suspicion. State v. Sinclair, 2024 Iowa App. LEXIS 74 (Ct. App. Jan. 24, 2024). “Cordova argues … Continue reading
SD: Failure to put SW materials in record means trial court presumed correct
There were two search warrants for location data and defendant’s cell phone. Without the search warrant materials in the appellate record, there’s nothing to review and the trial court is assumed to be correct. State v. Horse, 2024 S.D. 4, … Continue reading
D.Me.: SW affidavit mentioned a licensing complaint against defendant doctor, but omission that the complaint was resolved favorably gets a Franks hearing
Defendant is a D.O. accused of over prescribing. She made her substantial preliminary showing to get a Franks hearing because the affiant omitted from the affidavit for warrant that the licensing authority considered the same claims and found she acted … Continue reading
CA7: SW affidavit omitted things but it wasn’t intentionally or recklessly misleading
The affidavit was lacking some important information, but it was not intentionally or recklessly misleading to the issuing magistrate. Thus, defendant’s Franks challenge fails. United States v. Hueston, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 832 (7th Cir. Jan. 12, 2024):
LA2: Anonymous report of man with a gun without some other possible crime is not RS
An anonymous tip that a man had a gun wasn’t reasonable suspicion. There was no report of any crime being committed at the time. State v. McCall, 2024 La. App. LEXIS 27 (La. App. 2 Cir. Jan. 10, 2024). Defendant … Continue reading
CA11: Austrian SW executed in Austria couldn’t be questioned here under “act of state” doctrine
Plaintiff, apparently while in the United States, had his property in Austria searched by Austrian authorities with an Austrian search warrant. [Aside from what jurisdiction is there here?,] The “act of state” doctrine prohibits a U.S. court from questioning the … Continue reading
TX1: Arrest on PC when standing next to vehicle justified its search incident
Defendant’s arrest for a parole violation while he was standing next to his vehicle resulted in a search of the person finding drugs, and that justified a search incident of the vehicle, too. Badyrka v. State, 2024 Tex. App. LEXIS … Continue reading
N.D.Iowa: Police car pulling up with activated blue and red lights wasn’t necessarily a seizure; here, it is not
“I conclude that a law enforcement officer’s activation of red and blue emergency does not, by itself, establish a seizure for Fourth Amendment purposes. However, it is a factor that weighs in favor of finding a seizure. Certain other facts … Continue reading
CA10: City driveway shared with house next door not curtilage
A driveway shared with the house next door was not curtilage. A driveway in a city usually isn’t anyway. United States v. Vasquez, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 75 (10th Cir. Jan. 3, 2024). Defendant’s objection to the R&R that the … Continue reading
D.N.M.: Squatter in building labeled “unsafe” had no standing
Defendant was a squatter in a building with posted sign warning it was substandard and unsafe. He had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the premises. United States v. Guzman, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 550 (D.N.M. Jan. 2, 2024). Michael … Continue reading
LA5: Omission wasn’t material for Franks and it was only negligent, if anything
“There is no evidence to demonstrate that any omission of Mr. Daleo’s prior statement in the probable cause affidavits was intentional. Further, we find the applications demonstrate that the attesting officers had reasonable grounds to believe that defendant’s residence and … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Typo in affidavit for SW doesn’t support Franks challenge
Defendant’s Franks challenge fails. “At the hearing, Hill presented nothing to establish that this inconsistency was anything other than a negligent typographical error. While he maintained that the affidavits were riddled with falsehoods, he was unable—despite repeated questioning—to pinpoint any … Continue reading
GA: A court order for medical records by statute requires PC
There is a statutory privacy interest in one’s medical records, and an “appropriate court order” is required for the government to access them in a criminal case. An ex parte order not shown to be based on probable cause is … Continue reading
M.D.Pa.: Cut-and-paste errors and delay in execution and discovery results in suppression of cell phone
A Franks violation from cut-and-paste of another cell phone search affidavit resulted in serious factual errors in this one. Coupled with the government’s late disclosure of the phone’s contents despite a date certain trial, the court concludes the exclusionary rule … Continue reading
CA4: 2255 pet’r gets discovery and evidentiary hearing on “dirty cop” the govt both embraced and disavowed at its convenience
2255 petitioner gets an evidentiary hearing on his motion to withdraw his guilty plea after he discovered the affiant, who he’d previously complained to all was a “dirty cop,” actually lied on the search warrant affidavit back in 2015. At … Continue reading
D.Haw.: Def’s use of known alias to rent property gave standing
Rental of storage unit in one of defendant’s known aliases gave him standing. United States v. Eberhart, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 222575 (D. Haw. Dec. 14, 2023). Defendant’s Franks challenge fails for lack of the proffer of good reason. Aside … Continue reading
D.N.J.: Expert saying drug dog not reliable not a Franks issue
Defendant’s expert report that the drug dog here wasn’t reliable doesn’t make a Franks challenge. Besides, there was good faith as to it. United States v. Estevez-Castillo, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 221601 (D.N.J. Dec. 13, 2023). That officers created the … Continue reading
NY1: Def’s Franks challenge denial and 7 year sentence summarily affirmed 7½ years later
“Defendant’s request for a Franks hearing was properly summarily denied. He failed to make a ‘substantial preliminary showing’ that the purported statements he made to his wife and at the precinct relating to his ownership of the vehicle were false … Continue reading