Archives
-
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
-
-
ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2015-17) (then discontinued)
-
-
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) -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fourth Amendment cases, citations, and links -
Latest Slip Opinions:
U.S. Supreme Court (Home)
S.Ct. Shadow Docket Database
Federal Appellate Courts Opinions
First Circuit
Second Circuit
Third Circuit
Fourth Circuit
Fifth Circuit
Sixth Circuit
Seventh Circuit
Eighth Circuit
Ninth Circuit
Tenth Circuit
Eleventh Circuit
D.C. Circuit
Federal Circuit
Foreign Intell.Surv.Ct.
FDsys, many district courts, other federal courts
Military Courts: C.A.A.F., Army, AF, N-M, CG, SF
State courts (and some USDC opinions)
Google Scholar
Advanced Google Scholar
Google search tips
LexisWeb
LII State Appellate Courts
LexisONE free caselaw
Findlaw Free Opinions
To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
Research Links:
Supreme Court:
SCOTUSBlog
S. Ct. Docket
Solicitor General's site
SCOTUSreport
Briefs online (but no amicus briefs)
Oyez Project (NWU)
"On the Docket"–Medill
S.Ct. Monitor: Law.com
S.Ct. Com't'ry: Law.com
-
General (many free):
LexisWeb
Google Scholar | Google
LexisOne Legal Website Directory
Crimelynx
Lexis.com $
Lexis.com (criminal law/ 4th Amd) $
Findlaw.com
Findlaw.com (4th Amd)
Westlaw.com $
F.R.Crim.P. 41
www.fd.org
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
DEA Agents Manual (2002) (download)
DOJ Computer Search Manual (2009) (pdf)
Stringrays (ACLU No. Cal.) (pdf)
-
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)
--Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping (2012)
--Federal Laws Relating to Cybersecurity: Discussion of Proposed Revisions (2012)
ACLU on privacy
Privacy Foundation
Electronic Frontier Foundation
NACDL’s Domestic Drone Information Center
Electronic Privacy Information Center
Criminal Appeal (post-conviction) (9th Cir.)
Section 1983 Blog -
"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
NM: Trial courts can raise search issues on their own
A trial judge in New Mexico noticed that there were an unusual number of suspect warrantless searches going unchallenged by the defense. She set suppression hearings and several cases were nolle prossed. A few survived to be heard. On certification … Continue reading
N.D.Iowa: DUI stop justifies search for open containers
Defendant’s DUI stop justified a search for open containers, and a firearm was validly found. United States v. Stuckey, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 207801 (N.D. Iowa Nov. 15, 2024). Defendant moved to suppress a cell phone warrant at the border … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Ordering passenger from car in an uneventful traffic stop required RS; his assault on officer was intervening act
The traffic stop was uneventful at first, and the driver provided all the information and papers necessary. After that, the officers focused on the passenger and ordered him from the car, but that required reasonable suspicion. His assault of the … Continue reading
PA: CI tip gave RS for dog sniff during stop
The CI’s tip gave reasonable suspicion to extend the stop for a dog sniff. Commonwealth v. Ortiz, 2024 PA Super 249, 2024 Pa. Super. LEXIS 467 (Oct. 29, 2024).* “Moreover, as noted above, Trooper Klun’s personal observation of Harris driving … Continue reading
OH4: Return of cell phone denied; it’s still potential evidence, and part of delay is refusing to give passcode
“Based on our review of the record, we find the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Smith’s motion for return of his electronic devices. At the time of Smith’s request, it appears that the property was still … Continue reading
SD: PC for drugs as to driver extends to passenger’s purse
Once there was probable cause to search a vehicle because of what was on the driver, there was also probable cause to search the purse of his passenger. State v. Edwards, 2024 S.D. 62, 2024 S.D. LEXIS 136 (Oct. 16, … Continue reading
N.D.Cal.: Checking DMV and criminal history during a traffic stop not unreasonable
Checking DMV and criminal history during a traffic stop is not unreasonable. United States v. Daniels, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 190101 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 18, 2024). Defendant “argues that the bodycam evidence refutes Trooper Myer’s testimony that the truck and … Continue reading
CA11: CI’s veracity wasn’t really specific enough, but it was still enough for the GFE to apply
“Second, the affidavit establishes the informant’s veracity. … But the statements about the informant’s reliability, while lacking specificity, are at the very least ‘indicia of probable cause.’ Whether or not probable cause existed, this warrant (though inartfully drafted) presents enough … Continue reading
D.Minn.: No need to test a roach for PC, plus def admitted what it was
“During the stop, Mr. Winston himself confirmed that the roaches were marijuana; his possession charge, however, is not based on them. There was thus no reason to test the roaches to confirm the presence of marijuana. The failure on the … Continue reading
D.N.H.: Federal case can rely on state SW
Defense counsel was not ineffective for not challenging the search warrant in his federal case that was issued by a state court judge because it wouldn’t win. Lessard v. United States, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 180669 (D.N.H. Oct. 3, 2024).* … Continue reading
IL: No REP in ER trauma room
There is no reasonable expectation of privacy in a hospital ER trauma room, even though there is under state precedent in a single bedroom. People v. Turner, 2024 IL 129208, 2024 Ill. LEXIS 469 (Sept. 19, 2024). Defendant argued that … Continue reading
IL: With MJ decrim, smell of MJ no longer PC
With decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana, the smell of marijuana in a car is no longer probable cause to search. People v. Redmond, 2024 IL 129201, 2024 Ill. LEXIS 464 (Sep. 19, 2024). See techdirt: Court Reminds Cops That … Continue reading
CA9: Inventory of backpack of just released suspect was still reasonable
Defendant was arrested on suspicion of murder, and his backpack was put in the police car. His backpack was briefly searched and nothing was found. He was released after questioning, but his backpack was subjected to a later inventory which … Continue reading
KS: Def’s general motion to suppress didn’t preserve particularity for appeal
“Huggins argued one reason for suppression at trial and hopes the language of his objection was sufficiently vague to preserve a different basis for appeal. This defeats the statutory requirement for specificity, and it leaves trial courts guessing what the … Continue reading
N.D.Ohio: Cell phone next to seized drugs was nexus for SW
“In sum, the search warrant affidavit contained considerably more than the mere fact that Bell was arrested with the cell phone on his person. Rather, law enforcement found the cell phone on Bell’s person near ‘the very drugs’ he has … Continue reading
W.D.Mo.: Def didn’t show he was driving overdue rented car with anyone’s permission
Defendant had no standing in the rented car he was driving. It was rented by another person, and it had not been timely returned. He didn’t show that he was driving with anyone’s permission. United States v. Manning, 2024 U.S. … Continue reading
CA11: RS existed on the totality of the stop even though the officer did not intend to issue a traffic ticket
Reasonable suspicion developed to continue the stop even though the officer didn’t intend to issue a traffic ticket. United States v. Martinez, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 17675 (11th Cir. July 18, 2024). 2255 petitioner’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim that … Continue reading