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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)
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Section 1983 Blog -
"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
AR: Claim of misstatement or incorrect fact in SW affidavit doesn’t state Franks claim without allegation it was reckless or intentional
Merely stating that information in the affidavit for search warrant was incorrect doesn’t preserve a Franks challenge without also alleging that it was recklessly or intentionally made. King v. State, 2019 Ark. 114, 2019 Ark. LEXIS 125 (Apr. 18, 2019). … Continue reading
D.Mont.: Omission of def’s acquittal in a somewhat related case before the SW was issued was a Franks violation, but adding it in still leads to PC
The affidavit for search warrant omitted that defendant had been tried and acquitted of incest shortly before. Recasting the affidavit to include that fact, however, still leads to probable cause. “The Court determines that probable cause remains even after the … Continue reading
D.P.R.: Factual assertion in SW affidavit based on inference was reasonable and not false
Defendant’s Franks challenge fails. The officer’s assertion of fact was a reasonable inference based on what he saw and wasn’t false. United States v. Cruz-Arroyo, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 47172 (D. P.R. Mar. 19, 2019).* Defendant’s Franks challenge fails for … Continue reading
D.Nev.: The fact the officers claimed to smell marijuana but didn’t find any doesn’t mean they were lying
It was testified that the car smelled like burnt marijuana. The fact none was found doesn’t indicate that officers were lying. United States v. Davila, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42805 (D. Nev. Jan. 31, 2019),* adopted, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading
CA7: SW not required by Riley and Carpenter for cell phone and computer searches at border
The Seventh Circuit finds that the border search exception was not affected by Riley and Carpenter such that a search warrant is required for search of electronics at the border. United States v. Wanjiku, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 8154 (7th … Continue reading
N.D.N.Y.: Even if def accused drug dealer’s alleged cover business was omitted from affidavit, there still was PC
The officers lack of complete detail to fully explain defendant’s version that he might have had a lawful explanation for what he was doing doesn’t rise to the high bar of a Franks violation. In addition, it’s not uncommon for … Continue reading
W.D.Mo.: Def had standing in a truck he was loaned
Defendant has standing in his daughter’s truck because he showed that she let him use it. The officer’s mistake of law concerning the expiration date of the vehicle’s license was reasonable. “Month of expiration” under Missouri law isn’t obvious. United … Continue reading
S.D.W.Va.: Officers falsely swore def’s friend “lived or stayed there”; she visited after a small heroin deal, and there was no PC at all
Defendant was visited by a friend after an $80 heroin sale. There was no nexus to defendant’s house by the friend who’d only visited a few times over a long period of time. The police also falsely swore that she … Continue reading
M.D.Tenn.: Getting new evidence, def succeeds in a Franks challenge after initial denial of his motion to suppress
On a motion to reconsider denial of a suppression motion with new evidence, defendant succeeds on a Franks challenge. [The court initially had concerns about officer credibility, and this cinches it.] United States v. Anderson, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29539 … Continue reading
NY: No REP or 4A right against recording of calls from prison
No Fourth Amendment right of defendant was violated by recording his prison calls and then admitting them into evidence. He was well on notice that they were recorded. People v. Diaz, 2019 NY Slip Op 01260, 2019 N.Y. LEXIS 266 … Continue reading
CA11: § 1983 malicious prosecution claim defeated by PC even though exonerating information omitted from arrest affidavit
Plaintiff police officers’ false arrest claim fails on qualified immunity. Even though allegedly exonerating information was omitted from the arrest affidavits, and the criminal case was dropped by the state’s attorney, it wasn’t enough to undermine the probable cause that … Continue reading
M.D.Fla.: No showing of RS for protective sweep on entry; observations in other rooms suppressed
The protective sweep of other rooms had no reasonable suspicion justification under Buie that another person might be present. There were two and they were unreasonable. The product of the walk through made it into a search warrant for the … Continue reading
D.Nev.: DNA match overcame alleged Franks violation
The court finds that a minimal showing of at least recklessness was made in a representation in the search warrant application that a black cloth had not been disturbed during a crime. The video surveillance shows several people did. On … Continue reading
GA: Motion for a Franks hearing on arrest warrant mooted by indictment
Defendant’s motion for a Franks hearing on his arrest warrant was mooted by his indictment. Young v. State, 2019 Ga. LEXIS 55 (Feb. 4, 2019). Defendant was a sheriff’s deputy, and he was suspected of sexual misconduct with a minor. … Continue reading
N.D.Tex.: Pet’r raised his 4A claim at every level in state court, and that forecloses habeas relief on the merits
Petitioner raised in his 2254 a lack of probable cause for the search warrant. “Petitioner raised this Fourth Amendment claim in the trial court, on direct appeal, and in his state habeas petition. He has failed to show he did … Continue reading
N.D.Ala.: No Franks proffer so motion fails
“In this case, the defendant has not attempted to make any preliminary showing that the information contained in the application/affidavit was knowingly or recklessly false. The closest he comes to doing so is the assertion that the application/affidavit avers that … Continue reading
PA: There’s no right to a warning before fleeing from the police during a stop
Defendant had no right to a warning before he fled from police when he was stopped. “Here, as a practical matter, it is not all clear that police had a reasonable opportunity to issue Dunham verbal commands directing his movement. … Continue reading
D.Minn.: Def’s Franks challenge had no offer of proof and thus was a mere complaint without support
Defendant’s Franks challenge to the search warrant wasn’t specific and was actually a mere “complain[t]” without an offer of proof, and that’s just not enough. United States v. Yackel, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12819 (D. Minn. Jan. 28, 2019)*: