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- CA6: Despite two guns being suppressed from arrest on bare-bones arrest affidavit, third gun was later validly seized by independent source
- D.Md.: Govt’s motion to reconsider granted motion to suppress denied; arguments now are too late
- CA4: Cell phone non-forensic border search doesn’t require individualized suspicion
- ND: Probation search of cell phone was reasonable
- Vanguard: SF Court Dismisses Felony Charges after Judge Finds Racial Bias Tainted SFPD Stop and Arrest
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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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--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: Reasonable suspicion
NC: Failure to give inventory to target of search doesn’t lead to suppression
The inventory to be given to the person from whom stuff was seized has to be given, but a failure to comply doesn’t warrant suppression. It’s after the search so it doesn’t involve the right to be free from unreasonable … Continue reading
E.D.Pa.: Probable cause did not become stale as defendant drove from Philadelphia to Erie with drugs
Probable cause did not become stale as defendant drove from Philadelphia to Erie with drugs. United States v. Andino, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117097 (E.D.Pa. Aug. 31, 2016). “The fifteen minute period between Defendant’s initial stop and the contested canine … Continue reading
W.D.La.: RS of drug trafficking here not “rocket science”
Defendant was a passenger in a car asserting no interest in it or the contents. “Diaz never responded to the Government’s standing argument, even after he was given an opportunity to file a post-hearing supplemental brief.” He’d also lose on … Continue reading
W.D.Tenn.: Order to execute on civil default judgment satisfied the warrant clause
The sheriff’s office entered defendant’s home to execute on a civil judgment for attorneys fees in a domestic matter obtained by a default judgment. Firearms were found, but he was a prohibited person. The civil process was a court order … Continue reading
W.D.Ark.: No QI for officer extending a traffic stop for a drug dog w/o RS
Officer was not entitled to qualified immunity for allegedly extending a traffic stop without reasonable suspicion just to conduct a dog sniff. Gover v. Helder, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117417 (W.D.Ark. July 29, 2016). Defendant’s call from book-in jail phone … Continue reading
IA: Driver in college town was much younger than registered owner, owner’s son had suspended DL, stop reasonable
An Iowa State University police officer ran car tags because the car was driving unusually slow when the driver saw the officer. The owner came back as a 60 year old man, but the driver was much younger. This was … Continue reading
CO: Motorist seeking aid can be required to submit to patdown w/o RS to get into police car
A motorist who sought assistance, and without reasonable suspicion, can be required to be patted down before the motorist gets in the police car. People v. Gow, 2016 COA 119, 2016 Colo. App. LEXIS 1176 (Aug. 25, 2016), op. mod. … Continue reading
AR: While SW must be issued on affidavit or recorded testimony, questions about no-knock didn’t have to be recorded, especially when no-knock refused
Search warrants must be issued on affidavits or recorded testimony. The issuing judge asked questions about the no-knock entry, and this was separate from probable cause finding. This did not have to be recorded. Besides, the judge denied the no-knock … Continue reading
CA2: Murder scene entry resulted in valid protective sweep and plain view
NYPD’s crime scene entry at the scene of a murder and protective sweep were all valid because of the exigency of the entry. Drug and other evidence was in plain view. [There are no facts talking about standing, or whether … Continue reading
OH2: Odor of marijuana, air fresheners, and window down when it was 25º is RS
Odor of marijuana, air fresheners, and window down when it was 25º was reasonable suspicion. State v. Hicks, 2016-Ohio-5439, 2016 Ohio App. LEXIS 3341 (2d Dist. Aug. 19, 2016).* Plaintiff’s Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment tort claims denied in … Continue reading
DE: Admitting violation of probation is a waiver of suppression issue
Admitting to the violation of probation is a waiver of any suppression issue. Thompson v. State, 2016 Del. LEXIS 441 (Aug. 19, 2016). The fact that defendant matched the description of a suspicious person reported to the police, was in … Continue reading
PA: SW affidavits not yet revealed to def; investigation could be compromised
Reviewing the affidavits for the three search warrants, the court is convinced that there is still a risk of compromising the investigation, so the search warrants will remain under seal as to the potential defendant. The court recognizes the right … Continue reading
CA10: Being a resident of Colorado is not reasonable suspicion for detention
“This case asks us to determine whether, under the totality of circumstances, Kansas Highway Patrol Officers Richard Jimerson and Dax Lewis … had reasonable suspicion to detain and search the vehicle of Peter Vasquez. In particular, this case presents the … Continue reading
IL: Mere presence in a high crime area isn’t reasonable suspicion
Mere presence in a high crime area isn’t reasonable suspicion, and defendant was unreasonably seized by police. People v. Williams, 2016 IL App (1st) 132615, 2016 Ill. App. LEXIS 555 (Aug. 19, 2016). “Reed Dempsey brought a civil rights action … Continue reading
KS: While entry into house to arrest for DUI was likely unreasonable, it was harmless error on this record; plenty of evidence without it
The court of appeals found the entry into defendant’s home to arrest him for DUI was unreasonable and without sufficient exigency, but, on the totality, it was not prejudicial error. There was plenty of evidence defendant was driving drunk without … Continue reading
D.Alaska: Officers obviously had RS
“Under these circumstances, the Court has no difficulty finding that this investigatory stop was supported by particularized and objective facts that support a reasonable suspicion that Gruben and his associates recently had engaged in unlawful drug related activity.” United States … Continue reading
W.D.Va.: A completed crime doesn’t preclude a Terry stop on reasonable suspicion
A completed crime doesn’t preclude a Terry stop on reasonable suspicion. Besides that, the court finds probable cause. United States v. Truth, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106651 (W.D.Va. Aug. 11, 2016):