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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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Congressional Research Service:
--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: Nexus
E.D.Ky.: SW application failed to show nexus to def’s house, and GFE can’t apply
This search warrant’s application failed to show nexus, even by inference. This is significant, and it makes it a “bare bones” affidavit not subject to the good faith exception. United States v. Spillman, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 128878 (E.D.Ky. September … Continue reading
CA6: If it’s a close case on nexus to a drug dealer’s home, the GFE is good enough for government work
While the proof of nexus to defendant’s house was thin, the USMJ could reasonably draw the inference that defendant’s base of operations for his drug sales was his house. “It is a close question whether Agent Fitch’s affidavit sets forth … Continue reading
TN: Failure to prove def’s nexus to target property made search without PC
The state failed to prove nexus to this property for the search warrant. There was probable cause to search the property of defendant, but what was lacking was his connection to this property. “It provided more than sufficient probable cause … Continue reading
SC: Turning computer over to repair tech when it wouldn’t boot was waiver of REP in the data because the hard drive needed repair
Defendant turned her computer over to a repair technician when it wouldn’t boot. He was copying files from the hard drive to backup the data before attempting to fix it, and he saw a questionable image suggesting child exploitation. Coincidentally, … Continue reading
CA1: Govt proved independent source for SW; nexus to computer shown by its proximity to forged documents
Removing the information from the alleged illegal search from the affidavit for search warrant still shows probable cause from independent sources, and the motions to suppress were properly denied. Nexus to search one defendant’s computer came from his carrying it … Continue reading
OH5: Citizen informant’s DUI tip line call wasn’t specific enough about DUI to support a stop
Defendant’s wife called a DUI tip line that he was driving having consumed alcohol. An officer stopped him without waiting for a traffic offense, which he would usually do. While she was an identified citizen informant, the tip was not … Continue reading
W.D.Mo.: Target of a SW has no right to see the warrant before execution
Target of a SW has no right to see the warrant before execution [probably to prevent interference with it]. Even so, that’s not a ground to suppress. The inventory has to be prepared with a witness. It can be the … Continue reading
MD: Davis good faith saves a search incident of a cell phone 3 years before Riley was decided, even though no state case ever said so
Search incident of defendant’s cell phone two and three years before Riley was decided was in Davis good faith based on Robinson [even though no state or Fourth Circuit case had said so]. Demby v. State, 2015 Md. LEXIS 490 … Continue reading
Nexus and searching the homes of alleged drug dealers: Two different outcomes
In two cases decided on the same day, two district courts, one in the Fifth Circuit and one in the Third, came to seemingly opposite conclusions on whether drug dealers would have evidence in their homes sufficient to satisfy the … Continue reading
D.P.R.: Drug dealers usually keep drugs and money at home, so that’s nexus
Drug dealers usually keep the drugs and money at home. So, when probable cause is shown, defendant can be expected to have drugs and money at home. United States v. Gomez-Encarnacion, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64131 (D.P.R. May 15, 2015). … Continue reading
CA5: Interstate stalking warrant made laptop and cell phones in motel room seizable by plain view because evidentiary value was “immediately apparent”
Defendant was convicted of interstate stalking a local TV personality and her husband by email and phone. Police had an arrest warrant for him, found his car at a motel, and had the manager call him to the front desk … Continue reading
CA8: Even consent to forfeiture requires the government establish nexus between the property and the crime
Even a consent to forfeiture requires the government establish nexus between the property and the crime. United States v. Beltramea, 14-1899 (8th Cir. May 6, 2015):
D.Md.: A cell phone found on a drug dealer is virtually per se probable cause there is evidence to be found on it; it’s a “tool of the trade”
A cell phone found on a drug dealer is virtually per se probable cause there is evidence to be found on it. Thus, there was PC for a warrant and nexus to the crime. United States v. Fisher, 2015 U.S. … Continue reading
D.S.C.: Nexus shown simply by drug dealer going home after the sale
The affidavit here was short, but not “bare bones.” Also, nexus is shown because defendant left the drug deal and went home. United States v. Hooks, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 183573 (D.S.C. April 21, 2014). 2255 petitioner did not show … Continue reading
CA6: PC for a cell phone SW shown because it was used in a fraud case; computer search standards applied and satisfied
In a fraud case, probable cause was shown to search a cell phone for both evidence of the fraud and text messages where the co-conspirators were communicating with each other. Nexus was shown because defendant was using his cell phone … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Reasonable to infer that robbers usually keep weapons and proceeds at home
It was a reasonable inference that a suspected robber would keep the weapons used and the proceeds of the robbery in his house. In any event, the good faith exception applies. United States v. Morgan, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 48758 … Continue reading
W.D.Fla. & D.Md.: Nexus is established by a reasonable inference the object sought will be found
Nexus was shown for a search of defendant’s house for counterfeit money. The police had reports from CIs having bought counterfeit money from him at 10¢ on the dollar, and his house was surveilled, resulting in seeing him carrying a … Continue reading
Nexus can exist for fraud in business records and defendant’s home to look for records
Nexus can exist for fraud in business records and defendant’s home to look for records: United States v. Gardner, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44647 (D.Minn. March 19, 2015). “The Hunt Affidavit describes a ‘builder buyout” scheme where a builder can … Continue reading
CA6: Good faith exception overcomes a nexus argument, which is a form of PC
The good faith applies to the nexus argument here [which is also a probable cause question], so the question of probable cause for issuance of the warrant doesn’t even have to be decided [and how lazy is that?]. Here, there … Continue reading
CA1: Nexus is whether evidence will be found in the place searched, not whether a crime occurred there
“First, Joubert argues that a nexus is lacking because the affidavit contains no allegations that he committed any offenses at the location being searched. But Joubert misidentifies the relevant inquiry. The question is whether evidence of the crime is likely … Continue reading