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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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--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) -
“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
D.D.C.: Protective order issued to keep def from seeing body camera videos in discovery
There were several body camera videos relating to this case as well as the search and seizure. The issue here is the scope of a protective order to keep defendant from seeing. The government met its burden of showing good … Continue reading
OR: In a DUII stop, a request for consent to search is not reasonably related to the basis for the stop; it unreasonably extended it
In a DUII stop, a request for consent to search is not reasonably related to the basis for the stop and it unreasonably extended it. State v. Rondeau, 295 Or. App. 769, 2019 Ore. App. LEXIS 123 (Jan. 24, 2019). … Continue reading
D.Mass.: Part of CI’s criminal history wasn’t disclosed, but enough was; CI was corroborated, and there was PC
The affiant didn’t withhold enough of the CI’s criminal history to be misleading. Not all of it was disclosed, but enough was to show he was part of the criminal milieu. And even if the withholding was significant, there was … Continue reading
TN: 2012 cell phone search had to be evaluated by law at that time on PCR
Defendant’s post-conviction claim on the 2012 search of his cell phone fails because it wouldn’t have been granted back then. Blunkall v. State, 2019 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 11 (Jan. 4, 2019).* The CI’s information was significantly corroborated by observations … Continue reading
W.D.N.C.: Defendant has standing in rental car under Byrd but loses under GFE under binding circuit law
On remand from the Fourth Circuit, the court determines that Byrd applies and defendant had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the car he rented. As for the good faith exception, the court finds that it is bound by circuit … Continue reading
D.Neb.: Google’s email search was a private search and NCMEC didn’t expand it
Google and NCMEC did not conduct Fourth Amendment searches when they encountered child pornography tied to his email account. They did private searches for their own purposes, and NCMEC did not expand Google’s private search. United States v. Ringland, 2019 … Continue reading
D.Nev.: CI’s alleged (and unsupported) false statement isn’t a Franks violation; has to be the affiant’s
Defendant claims a Franks violation because the CI is believed to be Rudnick, and Rudnick has credibility problems. Defendant doesn’t allege what is false to even get a hearing. Besides, Rudnick is the CI and not the affiant. Denied. United … Continue reading
D.S.C.: CI not sufficiently corroborated for PC for a vehicle search
Defendant was stopped for an alleged window tint violation, but the officer also relied on information from a CI from days before the stop that he thought was probable cause. The government had a dog sniff during the stop, but … Continue reading
E.D.Tenn.: CI on the controlled buy wasn’t an “active participant” in the crime
The CI’s participation in the controlled buy that led to a search warrant doesn’t make the CI an “active participant” in the crime where that’s only the basis for issuance of the warrant and it’s not a separate charge. United … Continue reading
PA: GPS tracker and audio recorder worn by CI for safety reasons not prohibited by Jones or 4A
The CI had a recorder and GPS tracking device placed on him for his safety while he was riding with the defendant. This is not a “tracking device” under state statute or Jones because it wasn’t planted on defendant’s property, … Continue reading
Cal.: Jailhouse writings could be seized with SW to prove def’s competence at trial
A search warrant was executed on defendant’s jail cell on the eve of trial and produced writings that refuted defendant’s claim of incompetence to understand the proceedings. They were admissible. People v. Buenrostro, 2018 Cal. LEXIS 9384 (Dec. 3, 2018).* … Continue reading
IN: Female CI doing a controlled buy is allegedly digitally penetrated by def looking for recorder, and he’s charged with rape
No search issue here; just a cautionary tale for police: A female CI came in for a controlled buy on defendant. He feared she was wired and made her strip to her underwear, and she did. Then he told her … Continue reading
N.D.Cal.: SW to Skype produced no verifiable information ptf was account user; no PC for a SW based on that information
A search warrant to Skype that produced vague information about its account holder that essentially could have been anyone because there was no verification by Skype was insufficient to show probable cause, and plaintiffs get summary judgment on that question. … Continue reading
D.N.M.: Failure to mention the CI’s criminal history is less important when the affidavit shows extensive corroboration
Failure to mention the CI’s criminal history is less important when the affidavit shows extensive corroboration. The Franks challenge fails. United States v. Martinez, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 192181 (D. N.M. Nov. 9, 2018). Defendant had standing to challenge the … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Emails from CIs provided PC, and the SW was limited to categories of information
A CI gave emails to government investigators about health care fraud. They and other information provided probable cause for more emails. The warrants were particularized by being limited to eight categories. United States v. Mathieu, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 192281 … Continue reading
CA8: Means and opportunity to commit bank robbery and carjacking in flight was PC
Defendant’s means and opportunity to commit this bank robbery and carjacking in flight was probable cause. Video showing him at a motel was nexus to his room. United States v. Evans, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 31326 (8th Cir. Nov. 6, … Continue reading
N.D.Ohio: Thermal imaging SW was based on probable cause because CI corroborated
“The Chardon Municipal Court Judge had a substantial basis for concluding that probable cause existed in issuing the warrant for a thermal image search of 7071 Ledge. The Government must obtain a search warrant before use of thermal imaging equipment … Continue reading
W.D.Ky.: Rodriguez doesn’t start to apply until the stop occurs
Defendant was surveilled in a funeral home at a funeral, and he was stopped later. Rodriguez does not apply before the stop actually occurred. United States v. Thompson, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 185267 (W.D. Ky. Oct. 30, 2018). “Such specific … Continue reading
W.D.N.Y.: Controlled buys corroborate CI
The CI wasn’t supported by past history, but was by controlled buys. United States v. Williams, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 180895 (W.D. N.Y. Oct. 23, 2018). “Finally, the affidavit articulated a reasonable nexus between the place to be searched (the … Continue reading