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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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General (many free):
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FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
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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
OH3: Removing falsity from SW affidavit that def sold drugs from house still leaves PC that someone did
The affidavit for search warrant misstated that defendant was the person selling drugs out of the house. Even removing that fact from the affidavit, there still remains probable cause to believe that drugs would be found in the house. Those … Continue reading
CA7: On thin showing of PC, affidavit’s omissions gets a Franks hearing
(1) The probable cause here was thin, and it was based on a CI’s credibility. The officer omitted important information to the CI’s credibility. This entitles him to at least a Franks hearing on remand. (2) A photograph of the … Continue reading
D.V.I.: Inevitable discovery fails here because the govt doesn’t show it was trying to get a SW
Inevitable discovery doesn’t apply here because there was no effort or even indication the government was going to get a search warrant. “Accordingly, while the Court finds that the inevitable discovery doctrine is potentially applicable to Wrensford’s DNA sample, it … Continue reading
M.D.La.: Use of word “clear” to describe certain facts wasn’t a Franks violation; removing it still leaves PC anyway
Defendant challenges the use of the word “clear” to describe the facts, which is supported by the facts. “[E]ven if the Court finds that the challenged statement was false and orders it stricken from the affidavit, the Court finds that … Continue reading
N.D.Okla.: Court finds Franks burden satisfied that false statement was material to bolster PC
The court finds addition of information into the affidavit for the search warrant was reckless at best and then material to the finding of probable cause. Without it, the affidavit was too thin, and that’s likely the reason the offending … Continue reading
D.Me.: Even if omission was reckless, missing info only added to PC
Even if the officer’s omission was reckless or intentional, adding in the missing information only makes the probable cause stronger. Therefore, his Franks claim fails. United States v. O’Neal, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 126426 (D. Me. July 30, 2019).* Defendant’s … Continue reading
CA4: Denial of post-trial Franks motion here subject to plain error review
Defendant’s motion for a Franks hearing came post-trial. The court of appeals declines to deny it for lack of timeliness and denies it on the merits. The Franks burden is heavy, and the record is scant. So, he’s relegated to … Continue reading
D.Nev.: The fact def’s FIPF prior had a suspended sentence wasn’t material for Franks
A state telephonic search warrant was issued based on allegations that defendant was a felon in possession of a firearm. The fact he got a suspended sentence and it was omitted from the application for the warrant isn’t material. United … Continue reading
W.D.Ark.: The “traffic stop” was actually a PC stop for drugs
This was not even a traffic stop, although it appeared one to the defendant. Actually, it was based on a CI’s information involving drugs and was with probable cause, so the extension of the stop with reasonable suspicion didn’t even … Continue reading
WaPo: Two people were killed in a botched drug raid. Investigators say the official story was a lie.
WaPo: Two people were killed in a botched drug raid. Investigators say the official story was a lie. by Brittney Martin and Eli Rosenberg:
WaPo: A [SF] judge signed a warrant to search a journalist. But police didn’t tell her the whole story.
WaPo: A judge signed a warrant to search a journalist. But police didn’t tell her the whole story.
W.D.Va.: Def satisfies burden to get a Franks hearing by showing material omissions
Defendant satisfies his burden to get a Franks hearing by showing material omissions from the affidavit. United States v. Anderson, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 122131 (W.D. Va. July 23, 2019):
CA4: Def counsel not ineffective for not filing CSLI motion before Carpenter
Defense counsel can’t be ineffective for not anticipating Carpenter by filing a CSLI motion before it was decided. United States v. Jackson, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 21716 (4th Cir. July 22, 2019). Defendant’s motion to prevent a search of his … Continue reading
OH5: PC is determined on the totality, not each isolated fact
Defendant’s challenge to probable cause for the search warrant isolates each fact. Applying the totality of circumstances, there is probable cause. State v. Beightler, 2019-Ohio-2946, 2019 Ohio App. LEXIS 3037 (5th Dist. July 18, 2019).* Defendant doesn’t meet the Franks … Continue reading
N.D.Ill.: Moving place of search of belongings away from alley where def was arrested to inside wasn’t unreasonable
Officers had a warrant for defendant’s person and belongings. It wasn’t unreasonable to move the place of the search from the alley where he was arrested inside, even as a search incident. United States v. Sanchez, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading
PA: Motions for return of property seized by SW are addressed to judge supervising the GJ that sought them
Motions for return of property seized by search warrant issued for a Statewide Investigating Grand Jury are to be addressed to the judge supervising the grand jury. In re Return of Seized Property, 2019 Pa. LEXIS 3845 (July 17, 2019). … Continue reading
W.D.N.Y.: Govt gets benefit of GFE which overrides Franks [without sufficiently telling us why]
Defendant twice asked the USMJ for a Franks hearing and never got one. On review, application of the good faith exception is sustained. “Here, the Government has shown that McMahon and the other law enforcement officers that executed the search … Continue reading