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- D.Me.: Yes, more investigation could have been done, but there’s still PC on what there was
- CA3: Brady doesn’t apply to SW materials
- E.D.Mich.: Person a cell phone was given to as gift could consent to search
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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: Reasonable suspicion
D.Del.: Evasiveness during a public intox arrest justified Terry frisk
Defendant was arrested for public intox and he became evasive including a request that his name not be run for warrants. That justified a Terry frisk. United States v. King, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40213 (D. Del. March 21, 2017).* … Continue reading
OH11: Knocking on door jamb and pushing open partly open door was reasonable and with exigent circumstances
Defendant’s motel room door was partly open, and the officer knocked on the door jamb and then pushed the door open. This was reasonable because there was both probable cause and exigent circumstances for opening the door. State v. Fletcher, … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: “electronic devices, narcotics and related paraphernalia, and biological evidence” was sufficiently particular
“Here, the warrants authorized officers to seize three categories of items: electronic devices, narcotics and related paraphernalia, and biological evidence. The affidavits established probable cause that Jackson’s electronic devices could contain evidence of sex trafficking—including photographs, documentary evidence, and advertisements—based … Continue reading
A.F.Ct.Crim.App.: There’s little REP in a shared desk, and search of desk didn’t make it into SW affidavit
Appellant was an Air Force OSI investigator investigated for fraud against the government for false travel vouchers. A search of a shared desk by a coworker produced some documentation, but the government was already on to him, and a civilian … Continue reading
E.D.Tenn.: Passenger’s seatbelt violation supports stop
The officer testified that the reason for this stop was that the passenger wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. The court credits the officer, and nothing, including the video, disproves it. “Given Posey’s vast experience detecting seatbelt violations, it is entirely plausible … Continue reading
DC: Failing to file a motion to suppress is waiver of the issue
Defendant never filed a motion to suppress prior to trial, so the search and seizure claim is waived. Proctor v. United States, 2017 D.C. App. LEXIS 55 (March 16, 2017), amended 2017 D.C. App. LEXIS 331 (Oct. 26, 2017). The … Continue reading
CA11: Partially obscured LPN justified stop when LPN reader couldn’t read it
A partially obscured license plate because of a license plate bracket with an eagle on top that covered “Alabama” but not “God Bless America” on the bottom was a violation of Alabama law justifying the stop. The license plate couldn’t … Continue reading
D.Nev.: No RS for patdown; result of patdown and car search excised from SW affidavit and remainder lacks PC because informant uncorroborated
Defendant was stopped for speeding in a residential area, and he could be ordered out of the vehicle. His patdown, however, was unreasonable because there was no reasonable suspicion for it either by his word or actions or bulges in … Continue reading
NH: When the RS dissipated, the stop should have ended
By the time the officer called for the drug dog, the basis for the stop (LPN) had been resolved, and defendant should have been free to leave. There was no justification or reasonable suspicion to continue the stop for anything. … Continue reading
E.D.Wis.: USMJ declines adversary briefing by Google for a SW for email; take it to the USDJ
Google objected to a search warrant for two email accounts, whether located in the U.S. or not. Its motion for a briefing schedule is denied. Despite case law elsewhere, the District Judge is the one to take up adversarial litigation … Continue reading
E.D.Pa.: Def was “stopped” when he was ordered to turn around at gunpoint; RS wasn’t dispelled just by minor discrepancies in clothing, skin tone, and weight
“[T]here was a clear show of authority when Powell approached Bey with his gun drawn and ordered him to turn around. This command would have conveyed to a reasonable person that he was being ordered to restrict his movement. Bey … Continue reading
W.D.Pa.: Def was fully cooperative; flight of other person in car not attributable to him
When defendant’s car was stopped, he was cooperative but the passenger ran off. When officers approached defendant, he put up his hands and fully cooperated. His handcuffing was reasonable because of the potential risk of weapons, but there was no … Continue reading
D.S.D.: Court credits that officer could smell burnt marijuana coming from def’s car while driving
The court credits the officer that while driving behind defendant’s vehicle, the officer could smell burnt marijuana coming from it, and that was at least reasonable suspicion. United States v. Theus, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26719 (D. S.D. Feb. 27, … Continue reading
S.D.Tex.: RS developed during immigration checkpoint stop of U.S. citizens
Defendants were U.S. citizens and had already crossed the border. The car had Louisiana plates. They were stopped at the Falfurrias Border Patrol checkpoint and citizenship was quickly resolved, but reasonable suspicion developed for the car to be referred to … Continue reading
N.D.Iowa: Rejecting R&R, court finds stop pretextual and without RS
After USMJ sustained the stop (United States v. McLemore, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177419 (N.D.Iowa Dec. 21, 2016), posted here), the USDJ disagrees and disbelieves the officer’s testimony and finding the stop pretextual that the paper temporary tag couldn’t be … Continue reading
OR: Oregon clarifies the reasonable suspicion standard
Oregon clarifies the reasonable suspicion standard. State v. Maciel-Figueroa, 361 Ore. 163, 2017 Ore. LEXIS 166 (March 2, 2017), aff’g State v. Maciel-Figueroa, 273 Ore. App. 298, 356 P.3d 674 (2015):
CA7: Being passed out at the wheel is RS of drunk driving
Being passed out at the wheel is reasonable suspicion of drunk driving. Still, the officer had the authority to order defendant out of the car and the gun would have been seen inevitably anyway. United States v. Dickson, 2017 U.S. … Continue reading
OH5: Statute makes meth lab exigency per se; entry to freeze premises for SW reasonable
Ohio statute states that a methamphetamine lab is per se an exigency, and the officer’s seizure without a search warrant to get a search warrant was reasonable. State v. Umstead, 2017-Ohio-698, 2017 Ohio App. LEXIS 691 (5th Dist. Feb. 24, … Continue reading
OH11: Getting beat up in a bar fight permits a community caretaking search of your person
Defendant was beat up in a bar fight. He bled all over his shirt and his jaw was swollen. He rejected efforts for medical help, but the officer’s stop of him was reasonable under the community caretaking function. That community … Continue reading