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- D.Minn.: Extending stop to run ALPR information on car was with RS
- 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
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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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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: Franks doctrine
Three on Franks
This Franks argument fails. “Here, there is no indication that any false statement was intentionally, or with reckless disregard for the truth, included in the affidavit. Even assuming the information provided by the CI was false or misleading, there is … Continue reading
CA6: All family members have common authority over common areas of the house
All family members have common authority over common areas of the house. United States v. Campany, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 9518 (6th Cir. Apr. 8, 2022). Defendant’s Franks claim for ineffective assistance of counsel fails for failing to show what … Continue reading
D.N.J.: That officers could have investigated more isn’t a Franks violation
“None of these allegations is sufficient to warrant a Franks hearing either. At bottom, Rodriguez is merely criticizing the tactics employed by the police during their investigation. See United States v. Swanson, 210 F.3d 788, 791 (7th Cir. 2000) (explaining … Continue reading
N.D.Okla.: Officer’s testimony of traffic offense wasn’t believed based on his words on video
“Considering the totality of the circumstances, the Court finds that Phillips’ testimony that he observed a lane violation prior to initiating a traffic stop is not credible. The only evidence tending to support the commission of a traffic violation is … Continue reading
VA: Firefighters could call ME and police for dead body
When firefighters entered defendant’s property in response to a fire call, they found a body. It was within the scope of the fire entry to call the police and medical examiner. “Thus, all that the firefighters observed was no longer … Continue reading
CA8: Car seizure for overtinting and inventory were reasonable
Defendant’s car was permissibly seized for overtinting, and the subsequent search was reasonable as inventory. United States v. Perez, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 8697 (8th Cir. Apr. 1, 2022).* “Even assuming arguendo that Thrasher could make a substantial preliminary showing … Continue reading
CA7: Def’s detention during protective sweep looking for another was unreasonable
Defendant’s detention in an apartment building during a protective sweep for a fugitive that clearly wasn’t him was unreasonable. The district court’s denial of the motion to suppress is reversed. United States v. Segoviano, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 8771 (7th … Continue reading
D.Ariz.: To overcome Stone bar, pet’r has to proffer something about being denied “full and fair opportunity” to litigate 4A claim
To overcome Stone in a 2254, the petitioner has to proffer that he was denied a full and fair opportunity to litigate his Fourth Amendment claim. Failure to do so is fatal to claim. Bartels v. Arizona, 2022 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading
IA: Boilerplate language alone in an affidavit for SW does not establish nexus
Boilerplate language alone in an affidavit for warrant does not establish nexus. State v. Bracy, 2022 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 29 (Mar. 18, 2022) (citing § 6.14 of Treatise (§ 3:13 of 3d ed.). Omitting a CI’s criminal history from the … Continue reading
NC: PC shown for SW for GPS monitoring device
There was probable cause shown for the search warrant for defendant’s GPS monitoring device and his house for evidence of murder. State v. Gallion, 2022-NCCOA-164, 2022 N.C. App. LEXIS 178 (Mar. 15, 2022). 2254 petitioner’s sole ground for relief is … Continue reading
D.Md.: Covid helped explain the delay in SW for cell phone search
This cell phone was reasonably seized under a warrant. The second warrant was issued a few weeks later, but, because of covid, the delay was reasonable. United States v. Reaves, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43243 (D.Md. Mar. 9, 2022). “Defendant … Continue reading
D.Neb.: Omitting that there was no prior indication of drug dealing from anticipatory SW application not material
Omitting from the affidavit for an anticipatory warrant that there was no prior indication of drug dealing at the location isn’t material for Franks purposes. United States v. Espinoza, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39195 (D.Neb. Jan. 28, 2022). [There’s always … Continue reading
WA: Covered stolen videogame console not “immediately apparent” for plain view
A covered suspected stolen Pac-Man videogame console was not in plain view because what was covered was not immediately apparent until uncovered. State v. Elwell, 2022 Wash. LEXIS 151 (Mar. 3, 2022) (on the entire record, however, this was harmless … Continue reading
CA6: With multiple uses of excessive force, each must be analyzed
“Where ‘a plaintiff claims that excessive force was used multiple times, “the court must segment the incident into its constituent parts and consider the officer’s entitlement to qualified immunity at each step along the way.”’ Wright, 962 F.3d at 865 … Continue reading
NY Claims: Searching officer’s later perjury indictment over another SW affidavit supports claim over claimant’s conviction set aside as a result of disclosure
Claimant was convicted of drug possession. The state notified him after the fact that the arresting officer had been indicted for perjury for a false search warrant affidavit in an unrelated case. His criminal case was a credibility contest about … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: Apparently likelihood meth in office building could be moved justified warrantless entry
“[T]he Court finds that the evidence is materially credible and consistent and, taken as a whole, indicates that it appeared very likely that law-enforcement activity had been detected by the time of the warrantless entry, that there was a high … Continue reading
S.D.W.Va.: AUSAs apparently failed duty to court to mitigate this Brady/Giglio issue before it reared its head
The court’s finding of the officer’s recklessness in this search warrant affidavit leads the government to file a motion to reconsider, presumably because it will become Brady/Giglio material in future cases as to the officer. Not only is that denied, … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Seizing a cell phone in plain view with PC for later SW is reasonable
“[T]he court must conclude that probable cause existed to seize Kurland’s phone at the time of his arrest and that the plain view exception permitted the government to seize it. To be sure: simply seeing a device in plain view … Continue reading
D.Conn.: Collective knowledge doctrine requires passing on some of the “knowledge”
Another officer stopping the defendant under the collective knowledge doctrine at least has to be informed of what the “knowledge” is that warrants the stop. Without it, no reasonable suspicion. United States v. Roman, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30416 (D.Conn. … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: A Franks challenge based on omissions is a higher bar to clear
When a Franks challenge is based on omissions, the bar is higher. Here, defendant didn’t meet it. United States v. McCoy, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30230 (E.D.Mich. Feb. 18, 2022):