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- OH2: Stop outside the officer’s jurisdiction doesn’t violate 4A
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- CA1: SW for iPhone 6S didn’t permit search of iPhone 13 despite same phone number
- CA7: It wasn’t a 4A violation to place a pole camera to look over def’s fence he built knowing he was under surveillance
- NM: Conflict of laws: NM exclusionary rule applies to TX 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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--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
CA7: Other officers bringing drug dog didn’t extend the stop
“The district court here found that Cowick detained Gholston only long enough to complete these same procedures, and that the dog alerted before Cowick had finished printing the second ticket. This is not a case in which an officer completes … Continue reading
CA4: “Is there anything illegal in the vehicle” didn’t extend traffic stop
“Is there anything illegal in the vehicle” didn’t extend this traffic stop. United States v. Buzzard, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 17518 (4th Cir. June 11, 2021):
CA3: Questions beyond travel plans may unreasonably extend a stop, but here not
Questions about travel plans aren’t unreasonable during a traffic stop. Followup questions, however, would have been unreasonable, but for there already being reasonable suspicion. United States v. Segovia, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 17479 (3d Cir. June 11, 2021):
M.D.Ala.: Post-conviction petitioner has to show he told defense counsel of facts and issues not raised
When challenging defense counsel’s failure to raise an issue in an ineffective assistance of counsel claim, it behooves the defendant to show that defense counsel was told about the issue. Defendant here was aware of the alleged fact he complains … Continue reading
W.D.Pa.: Hot pursuit justified entry into def’s house
Highly specific and accurate information from a 911 call about a man with heroin and a gun in a blue drawstring bag in an area known for on-the-street drug deals and violent crimes brought police. Defendant matched the description. There … Continue reading
CA6: Protective sweep under a couch was reasonable
The government showed that a protective sweep under a couch was reasonably justified in looking for a person. United States v. Vanhook, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 17245 (6th Cir. June 10, 2021). The contents of recorded jail telephone calls coupled … Continue reading
CA6: Second officer’s running wants and warrants on passenger didn’t delay the first officer’s stop
A second officer running warrants on detainees from a justified vehicle stop did not have anything to do with the original mission of the stop. “Officer Hogan questioned the passenger while Officer Holland dealt with Brewer, and we do not … Continue reading
VA: Owner’s suspended DL supported stop under Glover
Officers had reasonable suspicion under Glover to believe the driver of a vehicle was the owner who had a suspended DL. Mitchell v. Commonwealth, 2021 Va. App. LEXIS 89 (June 8, 2021). “Calvert’s comments to police to shoot him and … Continue reading
N.D.Ill.: Arrest in common area of apt building not on curtilage
Defendant’s arrest in a common area of an apartment building was not on the curtilage. United States v. Anderson, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106278 (N.D. Ill. June 7, 2021). Defendant’s Franks challenge fails as to what was omitted from the … Continue reading
PA: Reasonable inference for stop that owner with suspended DL was driving vehicle
The officer had reasonable suspicion to stop defendant’s vehicle on the inference that the driver was the owner who had an outstanding warrant. The court declines to adopt a higher standard for reasonable suspicion under the state constitution. Commonwealth v. … Continue reading
CA8: GPS info can provide RS as to def’s location whether or not it’s admissible at trial
GPS information as to defendant’s location can be reasonable suspicion despite defendant’s claims it might not be admissible at trial. United States v. Martin, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 16822 (8th Cir. June 7, 2021):
WI: Holding def’s DL without RS made the stop unreasonable while drug dog was summoned
“On the certified question, we conclude that the answer depends on the totality of circumstances surrounding an encounter. Further, while VanBeek was not seized when Officer Oetzel took her driver’s license to run a records check, VanBeek was seized when … Continue reading
D.Kan.: Delayed stop and furtive movements justified vehicle frisk
“The Court concludes that the protective sweep exception applies. When the officers first attempted to pull Canada over, Canada took an abnormal amount of time to stop his vehicle, despite a clear roadway with no obstructions. The officers testified that … Continue reading
WV: Exclusionary rule would not be applied in administrative child abuse proceeding for protection of children
The exclusionary rule does not apply to child abuse allegations in administrative proceedings. The court declines the request to apply it despite the rule that it doesn’t apply in civil cases generally because of harm to the children. In re … Continue reading
CA8: Visitor’s property could be searched under warrant for host’s place on RS they were involved in drugs, too
Defendant was a visitor at a friend’s house when the house was searched under a warrant for drugs. She was on the couch with a meth pipe next to her, so it was reasonable to search her lockbox under the … Continue reading
CA6: Detention with handcuffing on RS permitted putting def in police car
There was reasonable suspicion for defendant’s detention, including putting him in a police car while they sorted it out. That was not yet an arrest. United States v. Rogers, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 16160 (6th Cir. May 27, 2021). The … Continue reading
N.D.Ill.: Pointing a gun isn’t a seizure, but def’s raising hands made it one
Defendant wasn’t seized just by the officer pointing a gun at him; it was when he raised his hands and submitted. “Here, because the officers were responding to a call about an individual with a firearm and Officer Davis reasonably … Continue reading
W.D.Mo.: “Criminal history” in a warrant affidavit doesn’t necessarily mean convictions
The officer’s reference to “criminal history” in a warrant affidavit doesn’t necessarily mean convictions. Therefore, the court finds no Franks violation. Even striking that reference leaves probable cause. United States v. Woody, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100605 (W.D. Mo. Apr. … Continue reading
CA6: Misdescription of alleged robber was close enough for RS for stop
There was reasonable suspicion for defendant’s stop. “But the touchstone of the Fourth Amendment is reasonableness, not perfection. See Heien v. North Carolina, 574 U.S. 54, 60-61, 135 S. Ct. 530, 190 L. Ed. 2d 475 (2014). The facts reported … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Just because a motorist can be ordered out of the car, that doesn’t permit the officer to open the door for him
Just because a motorist can be ordered out of the car, that doesn’t enable the officer to open the door for him. “As explained above, however, Trooper Miller’s stated purpose included an investigatory motive—verifying whether ‘something’ had been concealed—and his … Continue reading