Archives
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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)
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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: Burden of proof
W.D.N.Y.: Govt failed in burden of showing exigency in domestic call that officers took time to respond to because of caller being notoriously unreliable
The warrantless entry into defendant’s house could not be justified as a domestic violence call. When the vague call came to police, it was only that a person was “upsetting things,” and the officer en route stopped to investigate a … Continue reading
W.D.Mo.: PC and scope of search are matters usually decided on the papers without a hearing
If the question is probable cause for and scope of the warrant, a hearing is not really required. Here, the subject matter was contraband untaxed cigarettes moved interstate, and there was a substantial basis for issuing the search warrant. The … Continue reading
N.D.Ill.: Davis good faith is objective, so the gov’t doesn’t really have a burden of proof
The court previously held that use of defendant’s garage door opener to locate his place did not violate the Fourth Amendment. After Riley, the defendants moved for reconsideration, and the court first found Riley inapplicable and, even if it was, … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Court grants suppression hearing on state law violations, even though it may not be relevant
Because circuit case law is unclear on whether a violation of state law is relevant [it likely won’t be under Virginia v. Moore], defendant gets a suppression hearing. United States v. Watkins, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4037 (E.D. Mich. January … Continue reading
D.Utah: Using drug dog while waiting for call back from dispatch was reasonable; didn’t prolong the stop
During the eight minutes of a normal traffic stop, the use of a drug dog by the officer while waiting for word back from dispatch was reasonable. United States v. Guzman-Cruz, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3312 (D. Utah January 11, … Continue reading
E.D.Tenn.: Def’s efforts to distance self from drugs at suppression hearing costs him standing
The defendant’s statements to the USMJ that he was neither a resident nor a guest at the house searched denies him standing to contest the search there. United States v. Griffin, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3695 (E.D. Tenn. January 13, … Continue reading
E.D.Wis.: Affidavit for SW didn’t create standing by identifying residence as being defendant’s when he wasn’t found there; he still had to show something
The affiant officer’s merely identifying the premises as the residence of the defendant didn’t create standing. Defendant still had to show it. When the search warrant was executed, defendant wasn’t found there, but the codefendants were. United States v. Morris, … Continue reading
OH2: Inconsistency between video and officer’s testimony didn’t alter fact heroin was in plain view
There was an inconsistency between the video and the testimony of the stop and defendant’s handcuffing and the officer’s seeing heroin in plain view, but it’s not material. The officer could order defendant out of the vehicle on a stop. … Continue reading
N.D.Iowa: USMJ erroneously puts burden on def to show inventory invalid
Defendant was seen drunk in the grass behind a liquor store and then crawling to his car by a citizen informant who called the police. An officer arrived and arrested defendant for DUI. The vehicle was properly towed because it … Continue reading
PA affirms grant of suppression motion where state carries burden of proof and put on nothing whatsoever
Grant of suppression motion is affirmed where the state carries burden of proof and put on nothing whatsoever, trying to put a burden on the defendant to at least go forward. That’s not state law. Commonwealth v. Enimpah, 2014 Pa. … Continue reading
D.Alaska: Incomplete tape recording of SW application doesn’t warrant suppression
The tape recording of the officer’s testimony supporting the issuance of the search warrant by a state court judge was incomplete. Nevertheless, there is no constitutional violation because what there is supports the warrant. Compliance with state law on this … Continue reading
E.D.Va.: The “Interplay Between Burden of Proof and Credibility” in suppression hearings
The “Interplay Between Burden of Proof and Credibility” in suppression hearings. United States v. Mobley, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 164844 (E.D. Va. November 25, 2014). This is a warrantless search and the government has the burden:
LA2: State loses a cocaine search issue, apparently by not arguing all alternative grounds
A car was pulled over and two men fled from it. A third in the back seat was asleep or passed out, and he was awakened by officers banging on the windows. When he awoke, he refused to show his … Continue reading
N.D.Cal.: Rule 17 subpoena for police S&S manuals wasn’t relevant to suppression hearing
A defense Rule 17 subpoena to the SFPD for its search and seizure procedure manuals is quashed. The Fourth Amendment question is objective reasonableness, and that stuff isn’t going to aid the court. United States v. Johnson, 2014 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading
MO: Bandana covering lower half of face in high crime area is reasonable suspicion
“Here, Officer Lane testified that when he passed the vehicle at approximately 11:40 P.M., he observed a rear passenger with a bandana covering the lower half of his face. The parking lot was in a high-crime area. Officer Lane thought … Continue reading
D.Kan.: RS was shown for a frisk even though the officer didn’t articulate it
A frisk was reasonable where the officer would have to turn his back on the defendant to deal with the passenger, even though the officer did not articulate specific reasonable suspicion he was armed. “As in Manjarrez, the deputy could … Continue reading
N.D.Cal.: Officers’ testimony too embellished and padded to be believable
The court finds the officers’ testimony too embellished and padded to be believable. Their job is to testify factually and not embellish. [See Treatise § 60.47 n.2 (“Counsel should watch for testimony ‘tailored to nullify constitutional objections.’”)] United States v. … Continue reading
GA: Lost original affidavit for SW may be proved by testimony
A lost original affidavit for a search warrant can still be proved by testimony that the warrant was otherwise validly issued. Thus, defense counsel wasn’t ineffective for not challenging it on appeal where the record was made on the lost … Continue reading