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Recent Posts
- VA: 12 second question about drugs didn’t unreasonably prolong the stop that was going to take a while anyway
- E.D.Tenn.: Application for SW was considered in detention ruling
- TN: RS didn’t develop to continue stop; second stop based on first suppressed
- CA4: Traffic stop immediately became firearms investigation; suppressed
- CA10: Disagreement over spelling of street name didn’t make warrant fail particularity; GFE at least would apply
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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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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)
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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, 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: Informant hearsay
CA10: That officer could have provided false affidavit is not a ‘substantial preliminary showing’ for Franks
“Velarde-Pavia has offered no evidence that Officer Juarez lied in his affidavit. Rather than make the needed ‘substantial preliminary showing,’ Velarde-Pavia only speculates that Officer Juarez could be lying–that is not enough.” As to informant hearsay, the affidavit for the … Continue reading
CA2: Def’s possession of multiple cell phones and drugs packaged for street sale created inference more in hotel room
The search of defendant’s person produced multiple cell phones and drugs packaged for street-level sale. There was a fair probability there would be more in his hotel room since drug dealers usually have a base of operations. United States v. … Continue reading
D.Conn.: CI was personally involved in info he provided, and he was further corroborated by an unrelated wiretap
The CI here was untested for prior reliability, but the information was detailed and had the CI’s personal involvement. Moreover, an unrelated wiretap provided some corroboration of the CI’s involvement. This probable cause finding is not a close call. If … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Officers’ versions of arrest and search show two valid versions of why it was valid
The two officers involved in defendant’s stop and search of his person and car had somewhat different versions of what happened. Under either, the search of his person and car were both reasonable. Defendant had no DL which was an … Continue reading
TN: Even if a viable motion to suppress existed, it was reasonable strategy to work a plea deal considering all the evidence of guilt
Defense counsel wasn’t ineffective for not filing a suppression motion and working a plea deal instead. First, with the mountain of evidence against defendant, it was wise to work out a deal and avoid sentencing after trial for sexual assault … Continue reading
CA1: “Face-to-face” contact with CI by another officer was sufficient
“Although we have said that ‘face-to-face contact between the agent and informant’ and an agent’s opportunity to personally question him generally provides indicia of that informant’s reliability, see, e.g., Dixon, 787 F.3d at 59; Greenburg, 410 F.3d at 67, the … Continue reading
W.D.La.: Where the search was valid under the automobile exception, the officer’s subjective assessment is irrelevant
“Here, the facts known to Broussard at the time of the search—Dyson’s prior arrest for the illegal possession of a firearm and drugs, and the smell of marijuana emanating from the vehicle during the present stop—support a Terry pat-down search … Continue reading
CA11: Failure to seek review of R&R is waiver
Defendant did not seek review of the R&R by the USDJ, so appellate review was waived. Also, plain error review not sought. United States v. Fisher, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 37847 (11th Cir. Dec. 21, 2021). Citizen complaint from the … Continue reading
W.D.La.: In a § 1983 suit over a SW, informer privilege prevents disclosure here
In a § 1983 suit over a search warrant, the defendants plead informer privilege to prevent disclosure of the CI that led to the search. Denied. Informant privilege stronger in civil cases than criminal. There was also significant other information … Continue reading
D.D.C.: CI’s single controlled buy off def was PC
A single controlled buy from defendant’s home is probable cause without additional corroboration. Moreover, the CI had worked for MPD for a decade. United States v. Hill, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 238824 (D.D.C. Dec. 14, 2021). The fire department responded … Continue reading
CA6: Officer routinely asking “about drugs, weapons, and dead bodies” during traffic stops doesn’t unreasonably extend them
Officer “Mathieson testified that it is his habit to ask about drugs, weapons, and dead bodies during traffic stops. In any event, police officers are permitted to stop a vehicle for a traffic violation and look for evidence of a … Continue reading
CA9: That CI could be accountable for falsity supports veracity
“Considering the totality of circumstances, the search warrant affidavit established probable cause that evidence or contraband would be found at Conard’s residence. The affidavit supplied sufficient indicia that the first confidential informant (‘CI 1′) was reliable. To begin, CI 1 … Continue reading
OH2: Citizen informant provided RS
Officers received a disorderly conduct call at a fitness center. When officers arrived, defendant was pointed out, and the officers detained him. They hadn’t seen anything illegal at that point, but the employee’s call as a citizen informant was enough … Continue reading
TX10: Not challenging search when lack of knowledge was the issue for trial is reasonable strategy
In this post-conviction case, trial defense counsel wasn’t asked and didn’t provide an affidavit why he said “no objection” to admission of allegedly illegally seized evidence at trial. Without knowing why, it can’t be ineffective (it was argued it was … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Press motion for disclosure of SW affidavit denied because investigation ongoing
“The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (‘RCFP’), claiming rights of access grounded in the common law, asks the Court to unseal documents relating to a search warrant dated November 5, 2021 (the ‘Search Warrant’), which was executed at … Continue reading
LA5: Two CIs provided RS for def’s vehicle stop without need for traffic offense
The trial court’s denial of suppress is affirmed. There were two CIs. One provided details about defendant’s drug operation and the places and vehicles involved. The other provided predictive information that panned out. By the time defendant’s vehicle was stopped, … Continue reading
OH4: Failure to corroborate CI was a complete failure of PC, so no GFE either
The affidavit for search warrant here failed to show probable cause at all. It relied on informant hearsay from an identified informant. The trial court erroneously concluded that an identified informant didn’t have to be corroborated. In addition, probable cause … Continue reading
NY4: Failure to ID source of information in affidavit for SW failed showing PC
“Here, the majority of the information provided in support of the warrant application was in an affidavit prepared by a detective, and that affidavit ‘does not “permit a reasonable inference that it was based upon [the detective]’s personal knowledge”’ .… … Continue reading
W.D.Tex.: Stone bar applies whether 4A challenge made or not; could it have been?
“The Stone bar applies to ‘to all claims arising under the Fourth Amendment,’ including challenges to the seizure of evidence, Hughes v. Dretke, 412 F.3d 582, 596 (5th Cir. 2005) and even to claims ‘where the petitioner did not avail … Continue reading