The search warrant was in the S.D. Tex., and the affiant found a mistake before it was finalized that he communicated to the AUSAs involved. The correction, however, wasn’t made before he signed it, and he didn’t notice it. When the mistake was discovered, the electronics search was paused, and they went to the issuing court which determined that nothing needed to be done. The mistake was honest, maybe mere negligence, and it didn’t affect the probable cause determination. Franks motion denied. United States v. Baiyewu, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 234922 (D.P.R. Dec. 27, 2024).*
The District Court denied a suppression hearing so defendant opted for a bench trial. That put the government to its proof on some of the elements of the crime, and that supported denial of acceptance of responsibility. United States v. Cheatwood, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 24 (4th Cir. Jan. 2, 2025).*
Petitioner’s Fourth Amendment ineffective assistance of counsel claim that defense counsel didn’t properly challenge “his March 14 arrest is frivolous, meaning counsel could not have been deficient for failing to raise the challenge.” United States v. Perez, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106 (D. Minn. Jan. 2, 2025).*
No law; license plate reader and video showed owner of car not driving: “Detective Smith also obtained footage from the Chevron across the street from Danny & Clyde’s, which allowed him to get a better look at the license plate ending in 8777, and Detective Smith said it was likely a Texas plate. He used the partial license plate number to conduct a query through the Automated License Plate Reader system, from which he obtained the full license plate number PKT8777. He then tracked its travel history before and after the robbery and got the name and photograph of the registered owner, Jose Gonzales. The vehicle was reported stolen on June 25, 2021, four days before the robbery. Detective Smith noted Gonzales did not appear to be the person depicted in the surveillance footage at Danny & Clyde’s.” State v. Martinez, 2024 La. App. LEXIS 2320 (La. App. 1st Cir Dec. 30, 2024).*
A mask mandate is not a seizure of the person. White v. Davenport, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 234249 (C.D. Cal. Nov. 13, 2024).*
Defendant’s Facebook admissions he was a felon in possession of firearms and shooting guns was used to get the search warrant for his house. United States v. Ness, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 32911 (10th Cir. Dec. 31, 2024).*
Despite medical marijuana being legal in this state, the smell of marijuana from a car is still probable cause under federal law. United States v. Skouras, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10 (M.D. Pa. Jan. 2, 2025):
When an arrest warrant is served, it disappears from the system. Its existence can still be proved by someone with knowledge, but here it wasn’t. Therefore, the fruits of the arrest are suppressed for lack of proof of a valid arrest. Commonwealth v. Easter, 2025 PA Super 1, 2025 PA Super LEXIS 1 (Jan. 2, 2025) (2-1) [and look for this to go up]:
“Here, Jackson appears to have denied any possessory interest in the SUV and the backpack. (Dkt. 22 ¶ 7 (‘Jackson was not the registered owner of the vehicle. He further claims all of the items in the vehicle and the backpack found in front of XXXX Fremont did not belong to him.’).) And as to the backpack and the evidence it contains, the Government is correct that Jackson abandoned the backpack during his flight by dropping it. (Gov’t Ex. 2 at 12:55-13:04; Gov’t Ex. 3 at 1:45-50.)” United States v. Jackson, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 234647 (D. Minn. Nov. 15, 2024).*
The court of appeals affirmed the Fourth Amendment claim without giving reasons, and that binds federal habeas review. Whatever was the basis, counsel wasn’t ineffective. Hamilton v. Sec’y, Fla. Dep’t of Corr., 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 234186 (N.D. Fla. Nov. 26, 2024).*
In camera review of CI information to see if the CI was acting as a governmental agent was not unlawful. State v. Grier, 2024 Minn. App. LEXIS 552 (Dec. 24, 2024).*
A Riverside/Gerstein violation of not timely presenting probable cause to a magistrate doesn’t justify suppressing the evidence from the arrest. United States v. Jackson, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 234511 (M.D. Ga. Dec. 31, 2024):
Posted inArrest or entry on arrest, Search incident|Comments Off on M.D.Ga.: Riverside/Gerstein violation doesn’t justify suppression of evidence seized on arrest
Motor Biscuit: Police hope you don’t know the “K9 unit” loophole used to search your car illegally by Henry Cesar (“Imagine getting pulled over for a broken taillight. The cop checks your license, hands you a ticket, and starts to leave. Then he stops, turns back, and says, ‘Mind if I bring my dog around your car?’ Suddenly, a routine stop turns into a drug search—no warrant required. Police often exploit this K9 unit loophole to skirt your Fourth Amendment rights. Here’s how it works—and what you can do to protect yourself.”)
Posted inDog sniff|Comments Off on Motor Biscuit: Police hope you don’t know the “K9 unit” loophole used to search your car illegally
Defendant was indicted for impersonating an officer and flashing a fake badge at a school pickup line. The search warrant for his house for more evidence of that is suppressed. No nexus is ever shown between that offense and his house. United States v. Williams, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 233766 (N.D. Okla. Dec. 30, 2024).
Now compare this: The affidavit for warrant didn’t show any nexus to defendant’s house, except for a passing reference that officers by experience know that drug dealers usually keep drugs or records at home. That was enough for the good faith exception to apply. [So officer’s experience can fill the gap to a belief in probable cause for defendant’s house.] United States v. Willis, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 232921 (E.D. Mich. Dec. 26, 2024).*
Use of handcuffs during a traffic stop that produced a plain view of a gun wasn’t unreasonable before officers learned defendant was a felon in possession. The suppression order is reversed. United States v. In, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 32835 (9th Cir. Dec. 30, 2024).*
Posted inNexus, Reasonable suspicion|Comments Off on N.D.Okla.: Flashing a fake badge in public doesn’t support SW for house
Here, the AUSA was apparently confused in pleadings as to which cell phone was searched, a white or black one. When the AUSA learned that the wrong one was spoken of, he or she had a duty to promptly clarify–not wait until oral argument on the motion. [The word candor as in candor about the facts is never mentioned, but that’s what this is all about. RPC 3.3(a)(1).] United States v. Nash, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 233418, 2024 WL 5239792 (W.D.N.Y. Dec. 27, 2024). (This is also going into § 3:10 n.24 of Professional Responsibility in Criminal Defense Practice 2025-26 update (on Westlaw too).)
Defendant’s claim that the smell of raw cannabis in a car can’t form the basis of probable cause wasn’t presented below. State v. Rodriguez, 2024 Ohio App. LEXIS 4683 (5th Dist. Dec. 27, 2024).*
Defendant’s demeanor after the dog alerted on the car justified his patdown. State v. Denoncourt, 2024 Fla. App. LEXIS 9971 (Fla. 5th DCA Dec. 27, 2024).*
The officer had probable cause to believe defendant took a video of a young girl in his house in the bathtub. Defendant was persuaded to turn over the phone and it was consensual. He was told that he might be subject to prosecution for obstruction if he didn’t, but it was still consensual. United States v. Evans, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 233325 (E.D. Mo. Dec. 27, 2024):
Posted inCell phones, Consent, Voluntariness|Comments Off on E.D.Mo.: Even though threatened with obstruction if he didn’t, defendant consented to seizure of cell phone
Plaintiff’s § 1983 complaint against his state case is barred by Younger. Cuffee v. Cabuay, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 233153 (E.D. Ky. Dec. 27, 2024).*
Defendant has no standing to challenge the search of another person’s cell phone. United States v. Brown, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 233173 (D. Minn. Dec. 27, 2024).*
This officer’s re-entry into the residence after others left was by implied consent. State v. Langley, 33 Neb. App. 297 (Dec. 26, 2024).*
The affidavit for DNA warrant didn’t need to include how defendant became a suspect in something else when it showed probable cause here. State v. Spells, 2024-Ohio-6052 (2d Dist. Dec. 27, 2024).*
When the search warrant was found overbroad, a second warrant was issued based on the same information that was far narrower. It was valid because of its independent source. The alleged false statement in the DNA warrant wasn’t. State v. Matthews, 2024 Del. Super. LEXIS 823 (Dec. 23, 2024).
The motion to suppress was properly denied. Facebook employees inspected the image before it went to NCMEC, and the police view of the image was no more intrusive. United States v. Srogi, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 32679 (2d Cir. Dec. 26, 2024).*
Defendant’s arrest and search for being a felon in possession was objectively unreasonable because the officer didn’t know defendant was a felon when it happened, and no other exception applies. United States v. Stiles, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 232825 (D. Or. Dec. 26, 2024).*
Posted inIndependent source, Private search, Probable cause|Comments Off on DE: After the first SW was overbroad, officers got a second narrower warrant which had an independent source from the first
Officers approached defendant’s house by the driveway and came to the “back door” which was also a way into the house for ordinary visitors. The look at his car at 3 am exceeded implied consent to enter. “[A]t three o’clock in the morning, two officers walked onto defendant’s driveway, and circled his vehicle inspecting it for damage related to a hit-and-run. The implied consent exception cannot stretch that far, even accounting for a society in which certain types of unexpected contact are bound to occur. … More to the point, we can think of no purpose for the officers’ behavior in circling the vehicle other than a warrantless search. From the perspective of the homeowner, the officers’ behavior was unreasonable and alarming—a contact to which he did not consent.” State v. Leos-Garcia, 337 Or. App. 47 (Dec. 26, 2024) (decided under state constitution).
“The key to exigent circumstances is what officers reasonably believe. Quarterman, 877 F.3d at 798-99. Faced with the facts here, not every reasonable officer would know that it was unreasonable to believe that some immediate act was necessary to protect the safety of Kobe’s grandmother or themselves. Not every reasonable officer would know, in the particular circumstances of this case, that entering the house violated the Fourth Amendment. The right was not ‘clearly established.’ Rivas-Villegas, 595 U.S. at 5. The district court correctly granted qualified immunity on the officers’ warrantless entry.” Dimock v. City of Brooklyn Ctr., 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 32676 (8th Cir. Dec. 26, 2024).*
In a citizen’s arrest, if the citizen, not a law enforcement officer, violates the constitution or statute, the arrest will not be suppressed for that reason alone. His statement to an officer captured on video will not be suppressed because it was spontaneous. People v. Parris, 2024 NY Slip Op 24322, 2024 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 25421 (Monroe Co. Dec. 20, 2024).
Post-conviction petitioner’s Franks claim is denied for its generality and not showing what he was talking about. Ogbeiwi v. State, 2024 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 576 (Dec. 23, 2024).*
The warrant was overbroad, but only the things seized in the overbroad part can be suppressed. The search was for stolen property that was in the back of a box truck, and the scope of search would include places where the things stolen could be hidden, and that led to firearms and drugs too. The cell phone search within the warrant was not overbroad either. United States v. Marquez, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 232328 (E.D. Cal. Dec. 23, 2024).*
A keycard on defendant was properly seized incident to arrest. It wasn’t evidence of the crime of the arrest, but it was of another crime. United States v. Croom, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 231419 (N.D. Ala. Dec. 2, 2024), adopted 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 230733 (N.D. Ala. Dec. 20, 2024).
Plaintiff’s claim of future potential code violation searches is speculative. The fact the city didn’t accede to his proposed alternatives doesn’t show First Amendment retaliation. McKamey v. Skrmetti, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 231785 (M.D. Tenn. Dec. 23, 2024).*
The USMJ found no probable cause but did find good faith. The USDJ on review finds probable cause for the brief affidavit for warrant. United States v. Lineback, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 230748 (W.D. Tenn. Dec. 20, 2024).*
Plaintiff has a § 1983 case pending over taking his children from the home. A separate habeas case doesn’t lie. Harrison v. Ala. Dep’t of Hum. Res., 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 231943 (M.D. Ala. Dec. 23, 2024).*
The Guardian: Kentucky police fatally shoot man while serving warrant at wrong home by Emily Swanson (“Police in Kentucky recently shot a man to death in his home while they executed a search warrant that appears to have been intended for a different address. Doug Harless, 63, lived in London, a southern Kentucky town of about 8,000 residents, and was killed by police officers at his home at 511 Vanzant Road on the night of 23 December. However, audio from local Laurel County emergency dispatchers – and obtained by Kentucky news stations – shows that the search warrant was intended for 489 Vanzant Road, as was repeated multiple times on a recording of the audio.”)
Posted inWarrant execution|Comments Off on The Guardian: Kentucky police fatally shoot man while serving warrant at wrong home
In the appeal of Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v. Garland, posted here, the Fifth Circuit doesn’t rely on the undecided Fourth Amendment claim in deciding on a stay. 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 32565 (5th Cir. Dec. 23, 2024).*
The CI here was corroborated by defendant’s GPS ankle monitor on his movements. State v. Holley, 2024-Ohio-6006 (11th Dist. Dec. 23, 2024).*
In a case dealing with force from a leg sweep and tackling, citing cases where it was acceptable and seeking to distinguish them sure doesn’t show it was clearly established. Pryor v. Corrigan, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 32510 (7th Cir. Dec. 23, 2024).*
The stop was based on a DV complaint, and that led to the smell of marijuana from the car. United States v. McIntyre, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 231674 (M.D. Ala. Dec. 23, 2024).*
“Although the warrant did not specifically state that the blood was to be ‘tested,’ ‘analyzed,’ or ‘examined’ for such intoxicants, a logical, commonsense reading of the warrant shows that the warrant was meant to authorize such analysis because an intoxicating substance cannot be found in blood unless the blood is tested. Therefore, we conclude that the search warrant authorized the taking and analysis of the Defendant’s blood.” State v. Arora, 2024 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 573 (Dec. 23, 2024).
Officers lawfully approached defendant’s vehicle parked partly on the sidewalk. They didn’t have to just issue a parking ticket. United States v. Howard, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 231999 (E.D. Mich. Dec. 23, 2024).*
In an R&R, the USMJ holds that there’s no showing for a Franks hearing, and defendant should prevail on the motion to suppress because of a lack of probable cause. United States v. Holloman, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 232139 (W.D.N.C. Dec. 20, 2024).*
Plaintiff’s shooting during a traffic stop gone bad is an expansion of Bivens and is rejected. Hernandez v. Causey, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 32527 (5th Cir. Dec. 23, 2024).
Defendant had standing to contest the search of his room at his father’s house. He divided time between two dwellings, and his father never went in his room. Nevertheless, the father was able to consent to the police searching the room in his house because of his control over the premises. Chavez v. State, 2024 Tex. App. LEXIS 8852 (Tex. App. – San Antonio Dec. 18, 2024).*
The district court found probable cause and the good faith exception for this warrant. On appeal, only the good faith exception is decided. The affidavit was not “bare bones.” “At a minimum, the affidavit alleged that one or two confidential sources purchased heroin and cocaine from Brand at a residence, then surrendered the substances to law enforcement. Moreover, we discern nothing in the record to suggest that the state court judge merely rubber-stamped the warrant application.” United States v. Brand, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 32489 (4th Cir. Dec. 23, 2024).*
The city’s rental property inspection ordinance does not fail under the state constitution’s search and seizure clause because it is not facially void in all circumstances. Administrative warrants can be obtained when there’s a proper showing. Singer v. City of Orange City, 2024 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 105 (Dec. 20, 2024). [This produced numerous hits of reprinted posts from a conservative blog that this is the end of the Fourth Amendment. And the sky is falling.]
K.D. v. State, 2024 Fla. App. LEXIS 9904 (Fla. 6th DCA Dec. 20, 2024),* involves a discovery dispute in a juvenile case where the product of a child pornography search warrant wasn’t fully disclosed before the hearing.
The CI’s information was reliable enough for probable cause. The CI was known to the officer and would be held accountable for false information. United States v. Pineda, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 231122 (D.R.I. Dec. 19, 2024).*
Aside from failing to pull over, the passenger’s admission there were firearms and drugs in the glove compartment was probable cause. United States v. Hemphill, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 32424 (5th Cir. Dec. 20, 2024).*
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
"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]
“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)
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.
