Archives
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Recent Posts
- D.N.M.: DEA’s failure to make a detailed inventory in violation of policy doesn’t require exclusion of evidence
- WaPo: These cities bar facial recognition tech. Police still found ways to access it.
- C.D.Cal.: SW materials in case with weighty public interest ordered unsealed
- DC: Accepting a law license is consent to trust account subpoenas
- AR: RS def rented a hotel room was sufficient for search waiver; PC not required
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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2017); ABA Journal Blawg 100 (2015-16) (discontinued 2018)
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by John Wesley Hall
Criminal Defense Lawyer and
Search and seizure law consultant
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: forhall @ aol.com / The Book
www.johnwesleyhall.com -
© 2003-24,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 425,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 45,000 posts since 2003 (26,730+ on WordPress as of 12/31/23) -
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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)
--Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping (2012)
--Federal Laws Relating to Cybersecurity: Discussion of Proposed Revisions (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 -
"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] -
“You know, most men would get discouraged by now. Fortunately for you, I am not most men!”
---Pepé Le Pew "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)
Website design by Wally Waller, Little Rock 
Monthly Archives: April 2021
TX: Fire Dept called for police after discovery of drugs and guns; SW based on initial observations valid, narcotics officer’s later observations stricken but leaving PC
The Fire Department responded to a kitchen fire in defendant’s apartment, and they saw drugs, paraphernalia, and firearms inside. They called the police for a safety check. The officer responding didn’t know about their seeing drugs when he first arrived. … Continue reading
WaPo: The FBI wanted to unlock the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone. It turned to a little-known Australian firm
WaPo: The FBI wanted to unlock the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone. It turned to a little-known Australian firm by Ellen Nakashima and Reed Albergotti (“Azimuth unlocked the iPhone at the center of an epic legal battle between the FBI and … Continue reading
EFF Objects to Un-Warranted Police DNA Searches
EFF: EFF Objects to Un-Warranted Police DNA Searches by Eric Weiss (“The Electronic Frontier Foundation is arguing that law enforcement officers should not be able to collect someone’s DNA or perform searches in a consumer-facing genealogy database without first obtaining … Continue reading
MT: Jury instructions on police negligence adequately explained const’l tort theory
The estate’s theory of police negligence was submitted to the jury and it adequately explained plaintiff’s constitutional tort theory. The defense relied on community caretaking function. The jury found the entry reasonable leading to the use of deadly force, and … Continue reading
E.D.Mo.: Mistaken identity stop was reasonable and led to plain view
The mistaken identity stop of defendant was reasonable on the totality, and, when a blunt fell to the ground, there was probable cause to go further. United States v. Smith, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 71223 (E.D. Mo. Mar. 26, 2021). … Continue reading
D.Alaska: Military authorized seizure of electronic devices valid despite entry into room
The military search of defendant’s electronic devices was reasonable and done under a valid search authorization. The fact they were in his room did not prohibit entry to retrieve them. United States v. Basey, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70988 (D. … Continue reading
N.D.Iowa: 27 month delay in seeking SW for cell phone was unreasonable, and GFE not applied
A 27 month delay in getting a search warrant for defendant’s cell phone was unreasonable, and the good faith exception is not applied. United States v. Tu Anh Nguyen, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70671 (N.D. Iowa Mar. 16, 2021):
The Detroit News: Lawsuit: Man suffered ‘great harm’ after wrongful arrest based on Detroit’s facial recognition technology
The Detroit News: Lawsuit: Man suffered ‘great harm’ after wrongful arrest based on Detroit’s facial recognition technology by George Hunter (“Attorneys representing a Farmington Hills man filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday seeking undisclosed damages from the city, its police chief … Continue reading
E.D.Pa.: Use of flashlight on backseat of car at night not a search
Stopping defendant, the officer walked up and shined his flashlight on the backseat of the car seeing two guns. That was not an unreasonable search, and on the totality there was otherwise reasonable suspicion. United States v. Spruell, 2021 U.S. … Continue reading
OH5: Dog was called two minutes into stop of RV and it didn’t prolong the stop
Defendant’s RV was stopped for crossing the center line, and a drug dog was called within two minutes, arriving shortly thereafter. Waiting for and using the dog did not delay the stop, and the Fourth Amendment was not violated. State … Continue reading
M.D.Fla.: No 4A protection for non-citizen stopped by CG at sea
A non-citizen on an unflagged boat at sea off Florida had no protection of the Fourth Amendment from a Coast Guard stop. In addition, the stop was based on reasonable suspicion merely from observation. United States v. Perez, 2021 U.S. … Continue reading
E.D.N.C.: When there is RS, officers do not need to rule out innocent explanations
Where there is reasonable suspicion to pull over and keep a driver detained, the officer need not rule out innocent explanations for defendant’s conduct. United States v. Smith, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69687 (E.D. N.C. Mar. 17, 2021):
WV: Emergency order of protection was not functional equivalent of SW for entry into home
Officers with an emergency order of protection used it to enter defendant’s house and seize firearms. The protections of the Fourth Amendment and the state constitution are greater. The order was not, then, the functional equivalent of a warrant, and … Continue reading
S.D.W.Va.: Single question about possession of firearm reasonable under Rodriguez
Defendant was stopped for riding a bicycle with no helmet. The single question about possessing firearms didn’t unreasonably extend the stop. “Because the question asked here, whether Defendant had any firearms, is perhaps the most basic of inquiries related to … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: Prosecutor immune for false presentation of evidence in SW affidavit
A prosecutor’s false presentation of evidence for a search warrant is entitled to immunity. Here, plaintiff doesn’t even say what the false evidence is. Captain Jack’s Crab Shack, Inc. v. Cooke, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69196 (N.D. Ga. Mar. 8, … Continue reading
CA7: Shooting ptf after firing a gun in the air around a crowd of people still entitled to qualified immunity
The defendant officer’s use of deadly force against the armed plaintiff who fired a gun into the air around many people apparently to attempt to break up a scuffle led to him getting shot multiple times in seconds. Someone else … Continue reading
CA8: Lack of nexus saved by GFE
Even without an adequate showing of nexus, search warrants have been sustained under the good faith exception. This is one of those cases where the inference is close enough. United States v. Mayweather, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 10208 (8th Cir. … Continue reading
CA11: Stop for not having license on bicycle in violation of city code was reasonable
The officer’s stop of defendant for not having a license on his bike per local ordinance was reasonable. Defendant’s flight justified his detention and seizure of his backpack. CoA denied. Thomas v. Sec’y, Dep’t of Corr., 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS … Continue reading
E.D.N.C.: Officer’s reach into car was search, but justified by automobile exception
The reach into defendant’s car was a search, but it was justified by the automobile exception. United States v. Joyner, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68324 (E.D. N.C. Mar. 15, 2021). Defendant’s stop wasn’t unreasonably extended. “Although Officer Hambrock walked back … Continue reading