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- PA: Shining flashlight into hole in a shoebox was a search; there was a REP in the closed box
- CA5: Accidentally shooting the man who disarmed the shooter from a residence was not a constitutional violation
- CA9: False evidence to arrest violates due process
- CA6: The SW affidavit here was thin, but it wasn’t completely bare bones, so GFE applies
- D.Minn.: Extending stop to run ALPR information on car was with RS
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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
CA9: “[T]he officer’s acknowledgment that he was looking for a reason to stop Ordaz does not contradict or otherwise undermine his testimony that he found one.”
“[T]he officer’s acknowledgment that he was looking for a reason to stop Ordaz does not contradict or otherwise undermine his testimony that he found one.” United States v. Ordaz, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 32449 (6th Cir. Oct. 29, 2021). Pre-Carpenter … Continue reading
W.D.N.C.: Using a key to open a lockbox named in a SW rather than breaking it open is hardly unreasonable
Using defendant’s key to unlock a lockbox within the terms of the search warrant was not unreasonable. United States v. Frady, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 205784 (W.D.N.C. Oct. 26, 2021).* [Does he really expect that breaking into it is the … Continue reading
E.D.Tenn.: When def claims material information is omitted from an affidavit for SW it becomes a Franks claim even if def doesn’t want it to be
Defendant’s claim that material evidence was omitted from the affidavit for this search warrant is, at bottom, a Franks claim that requires an offer of proof and a substantial preliminary showing it would change the probable cause determination. He failed … Continue reading
D.Minn.: On “four corners review,” the affidavit is not misleading and it shows PC
On four corners review of the affidavit for search warrant, “This Court concludes that the statements made in the affidavit about Defendant living at the Euclid address were not untruthful or recklessly made; therefore, they permissibly allowed a judicial officer … Continue reading
OH9: ‘A determination that reasonable suspicion exists, however, need not rule out the possibility of innocent conduct. Terry accepts the risk that officers may stop innocent people.’”
“‘A determination that reasonable suspicion exists, however, need not rule out the possibility of innocent conduct. Terry accepts the risk that officers may stop innocent people.’” State v. Kleintop, 2021-Ohio-3584, 2021 Ohio App. LEXIS 3493 (9th Dist. Oct. 6, 2021). … Continue reading
D.Mass.: Court sua sponte reconsiders denial of Franks challenge and grants it
The court sua sponte reconsiders its prior denial of a motion to suppress for a Franks violation and grants it. The critical paragraph in the affidavit identifying defendant was clearly misstated. United States v. Hallman, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 191780 … Continue reading
E.D.Pa.: Multitude of facts supports nexus of evidence of robbery to def’s home
“Based upon the magnitude of the facts described in the search warrant affidavit, the issuing judge was justified in drawing a reasonable inference that physical evidence of Defendant’s alleged robberies would be found at his home. Defendant’s charged crimes, two … Continue reading
E.D.Wis.: Threat to arrest high school student for social media post about Covid violates 1A
Officer’s threatening to arrest a high school student and her parents for disorderly conduct if she didn’t take down a social media post about her exposure to Covid violated the First Amendment. Cohoon v. Konrath, No. 20-cv-0620-BHL (E.D.Wis. Sept. 24, … Continue reading
OH7: Visitor to hotel room with no key or shown association to room had no standing
Defendant was a visitor to a hotel room and he had no standing to challenge its search. He had no key to the room and no luggage or other belongings, and he couldn’t show he was a guest of either … Continue reading
SC authorizes video or phone oath and presentation of SW affidavits
Remote communication technology has been used for court proceedings under Covid. It is expressly authorized for many other proceedings, including issuance of search warrants. The swearing of the affiant can be remote. Use of Remote Communications Technology, 2021 S.C. LEXIS … Continue reading
CA8: 38 seconds of additional questions of passenger while ticket being written didn’t unreasonably extend stop
The second officer on the scene did not materially extend the stop by 38 seconds of additional questioning of the passenger while the first officer was writing a ticket. United States v. Salkil, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 25511 (8th Cir. … Continue reading
CA7: Franks issue moot by other PC
A warrant wasn’t needed to seize a cell phone, but one was to search it, and they had one. Attacking the CI’s credibility fails as an issue, Franks or otherwise, because there is other probable cause for the warrant. United … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Officers could accompany POs where there was fear def engaged in criminal conduct
It was not unreasonable for law enforcement officers to accompany defendant’s parole officer on a parole search because of concerns defendant was involved in criminal conduct. United States v. Davis, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147629 (E.D.Mich. Aug. 6, 2021). “Brewster’s … Continue reading
OH2: Specific 4A claim not made to trial court is waived
The specific Fourth Amendment argument made on appeal wasn’t made to the trial court, so it’s waived. On the merits, officers getting defendant in to talk on basis of a ruse didn’t make it an unreasonable seizure. State v. Luther, … Continue reading
UT: Information omitted from SW affidavit added in still shows PC
The omitted information still leaves probable cause. Here, the warrant was for cell tower location information to connect defendant to the burglary of the victims’ house while they slept. State v. Gonzalez, 2021 UT App 83, 2021 Utah App. LEXIS … Continue reading
PA: Exclusionary rule applies to PA probation revocation proceedings
The exclusionary rule applies to probation revocation proceedings in Pennsylvania. Having suppressed in the underlying criminal case, the court should have suppressed on the violation of probation. Commonwealth v. Parson, 2021 PA Super 151, 2021 Pa. Super. LEXIS 487 (July … Continue reading
N.D.Ohio: Ptf shows Franks violation for leaving out important mitigating information; officer also had apparent motive
Defendant satisfied his Franks burden of showing a material false statement in support of the probable cause showing for the warrant. That information undermined the probable cause. As to the good faith exception, this is what the exclusionary rule is … Continue reading
CA6: DEA can get state SWs and assist in state investigations, then go federal
DEA officers can get search warrants in federal investigations from state judges for state law violations aiding state officers. That doesn’t violate the Fourth Amendment or Rule 41. And, there is also the good faith exception. United States v. Williams, … Continue reading