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- E.D.Cal.: Failure to provide medical care to an arrestee can be a 4A issue
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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2017); ABA Journal Blawg 100 (2015-16) (discontinued 2018)
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by John Wesley Hall
Criminal Defense Lawyer and
Search and seizure law consultant
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: forhall @ aol.com / The Book
www.johnwesleyhall.com -
© 2003-24,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 425,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 45,000 posts since 2003 (27,400+ on WordPress as of 7/23/24) -
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--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) -
“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 -
"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] -
“You know, most men would get discouraged by now. Fortunately for you, I am not most men!”
---Pepé Le Pew "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)
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Category Archives: Ineffective assistance
N.D.Ga.: Exigency shown for warrantless entry to prevent destruction of drugs
The government showed exigency for what they feared was imminent destruction of drugs for a warrantless entry and protective sweep. Then a warrant was obtained with probable cause. United States v. Banks, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 163658 (N.D. Ga. Aug. … Continue reading
KS: Def’s general motion to suppress didn’t preserve particularity for appeal
“Huggins argued one reason for suppression at trial and hopes the language of his objection was sufficiently vague to preserve a different basis for appeal. This defeats the statutory requirement for specificity, and it leaves trial courts guessing what the … Continue reading
W.D.Wash.: Warrantless arrest in def’s doorway violated 4A
Defendant’s warrantless arrest in his doorway violated the Fourth Amendment. After objecting, defendant acceded to their demands when they pulled a Taser on him. The remedy of what to do with his statement will be addressed later. United States v. … Continue reading
HI: Failure to litigate application of Posse Commitatus Act was IAC under state law
Defense counsel was ineffective for not raising the Posse Comitatus Act where his offense was just outside the Pearl Harbor base and the military was the first to respond. Other courts disagree, but the state exclusionary rule shows that there … Continue reading
E.D.Cal.: Out-of-bounds camping stop led to RS and that led to PC
Defendant was stopped for out-of-bounds camping by a park ranger. The conversation led to reasonable suspicion then to probable cause for a search. United States v. Gearhart, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 146610 (E.D. Cal. Aug. 16, 2024). Obviously, vehicle stops … Continue reading
CA8: Changing the inventory search argument on appeal was waiver
Defendant’s chain of custody argument after an inventory search was differently articulated than in the district court so it’s not preserved. United States v. Edwards, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 19568 (8th Cir. Aug. 6, 2024).* Defendant’s nolo plea waived his … Continue reading
CA9: Failure to raise a clearly winning 4A curtilage argument was IAC
Defense counsel was ineffective for not raising a winning Fourth Amendment curtilage argument. As to the co-defendant, however, he lacks standing, so no IAC as to him. United States v. Chong, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 20467 (9th Cir. Aug. 14, … Continue reading
CA6: No special REP in crypto in FinCEN 8300 reporting
There is no special reasonable expectation of privacy under the Fourth Amendment to bar the IRS/FinCEN Form 8300 reporting requirement. Carman v. Yellen, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 20033 (6th Cir. Aug. 9, 2024). Four of petitioner’s 2255 claims involved a … Continue reading
MT community caretaking entries cannot be based on alleged crime alone
The welfare check of defendant’s house was reasonable. Yet, in this state, the community caretaker function cannot be based on an alleged crime alone. State v. Case, 2024 MT 165 (Aug. 6, 2024). Defendant’s 2255 ineffective assistance claim is rejected. … Continue reading
M.D.Pa.: Even summary denial of 4A claim in state court means Stone bar applies
Even a summary denial of a Fourth Amendment claim gets deference under Stone v. Powell. Burns v. Hainsworth, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 138877 (M.D. Pa. Aug. 6, 2024). Petitioner’s successor habeas petition claim based on an alleged fabricated search warrant, … Continue reading
W.D.Okla.: Search of hotel room lacked justification under community caretaking function; allied SW lacked PC
The search of defendant’s hotel room was without probable cause or any other justification for a warrantless search, here the community caretaking function. That search supported a warranted search, but it was necessary to the finding of probable cause for … Continue reading
OR: First cell phone SW found unexpected SD card, second SW was tainted by overbreadth of first
Defendant’s cell phone was seized in 2011 and an SD card was unexpectedly found with sexual images of children. When defendant questioned that, a separate search warrant was sought for the SD card. The state does not show inevitable discovery … Continue reading
TX3: Wife conducted private search of husband’s cell phone by using his thumb to open it while he was asleep
In Texas where a private search can be suppressed, defendant showed that his wife accessed his cell phone without his consent, and the search was suppressed. She used his thumb to open the phone while he was asleep. State v. … Continue reading
CA5: San Antonio’s rental property inspection program doesn’t mandate inspections without warrant; preliminary injunction properly denied
“Although the Complexes are correct that the Fourth Amendment applies to the City’s inspectors, the PAIP [rental property inspection program] on its face does not authorize or mandate warrantless searches. Section 6-71, titled ‘Monitoring, inspection, and condition standard,’ does not … Continue reading
VA: “‘you got nothing in the car, right?’ did not prolong the stop”
“The trial court made a factual finding that Investigator Natiello’s question lasted the same amount of time that it would have taken to simply hand the documents back to Jones. In addition, the question occurred before the investigator addressed Jones’s … Continue reading
IL: Taking the keys to a car can still be only a Terry seizure, not an arrest
Taking the keys to a car can still be only a Terry seizure, not an arrest. Reasonable suspicion not decided below, so remanded. People v. Pellegrino, 2024 IL App (2d) 230343, 2024 Ill. App. LEXIS 1675 (July 18, 2024). Defendant’s … Continue reading
W.D.Wis.: Jurisdictional issue in SW wasn’t enough to suppress here
In a domestic terrorism investigation, USMJs have the authority to issue search warrants outside their court’s jurisdiction. Defendant disputes that this investigation was not that, but it’s close enough. Even if the officers were mistaken, the court won’t suppress an … Continue reading
W.D.Ky.: SW affidavit does not have to negate affirmative defenses under Franks
Under Franks, an affidavit for a search warrant does not have to negate a possible affirmative defense. United States v. Pascoe, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 119992 (W.D. Ky. July 9, 2024). There was probable cause for defendant’s arrest for DUI … Continue reading