Search and Seizure Response Checklist: A Practical Checklist

Summary. The encounter half — the four sentences, the tiers, traffic stops, the home, devices, recording. The aftermath half — the same-day account, preservation, property, complaints — and the litigation sequence from standing through good faith.

For doctrine, see Search and Seizure. For the workflow, see Responding to a Search, Stop, or Seizure.

PART ONE — DURING

Phase 1 — The four sentences (say each once, calmly)

"Am I being detained, or am I free to go?"
"I do not consent to any searches." (Say it aloud, where a camera can hear it. Under Schneckloth the government need not prove you knew you could refuse — this sentence is the entire protection.)
"I'm going to remain silent."
"I want a lawyer." (Unambiguously. Then stop talking, and do not restart.)

Phase 2 — Tier analysis

Consensual — no suspicion required; you may decline and walk away.
Detention — reasonable suspicion; not free to leave; frisk requires a separate armed-and-dangerous belief.
Arrest — probable cause.
If free to go: leave. Do not stay to explain.
Comply with all physical directions regardless of tier. Do not resist.

Phase 3 — Traffic stops

Pull over promptly and safely; interior light on at night; engine off; hands on the wheel.
Produce license, registration, insurance.
Announce before reaching for anything, and say where it is.
Passengers: also seized (Brendlin); may ask separately whether they are free to leave; may refuse consent as to their own bags.
Comply if ordered out of the vehicle.
Decline consent to search the vehicle, out loud.
Note the time the citation or warning is handed over — the Rodriguez timestamp is frequently the whole case.
After documents are returned: "Am I free to go?"

Phase 4 — At the door of a home

Do not open the door. Speak through it, or step out and close it behind you.
Ask for the warrant; ask that it be held to a window or slid under the door.
Read it: correct address and unit · areas authorized · items to be seized · date · judge's signature · not expired.
No warrant → "I don't consent to a search of my home."
If they enter anyway: do not obstruct; state the refusal once; note the time.
If a co-occupant consents while you object: say the objection out loud, in their presence, and note who heard it.
Ask for an inventory of everything taken; get a copy.

Phase 5 — Devices

"I do not consent to a search of this device."
Do not unlock it. (Riley requires a warrant to search contents.)
Use a passcode, not only biometrics — the legal difference is substantial.
Get an inventory receipt with make, model, and serial number.
Afterward: change passwords for every syncing account from a different device; enable two-factor by a method the seized device cannot supply.
At a border: expect far less protection; travel with less on the device.

Phase 6 — Recording

Say "I'm recording."
Do not interfere; stand back; hands visible; narrate rather than argue.
Check the state's audio consent rule for non-public settings.
Back it up immediately — upload or send it to someone. A phone can be seized.
Never delete; if an officer deletes it, note it — the metadata is evidence.

PART TWO — AFTERWARD

Phase 7 — Same-day written account

Times: start · documents taken · documents returned · search begins · search ends · release.
Precise location.
Number of officers, agencies, vehicles; names and badge numbers.
Body cameras visible? Appeared activated?
Exact words, in quotation marks, both directions.
Were you told you were free to leave?
Were you asked for consent, and what did you say?
What was searched, in what order; what was taken.
Frisked? What were you told about it?
Handcuffed, and when?
Every witness's name and number.
Photographs of anything physical — and again over several days.

Phase 8 — Video and records

Written preservation demand sent within days — retention cycles run 30–90 days, shorter for non-arrest encounters.
Requested: all body-worn footage, every officer, entire encounter including transport and booking, native format · in-car video including pre-event buffer · CAD dispatch log · radio traffic.
Agency's own release process tried first; public records request filed if refused.
If charged, counsel obtains it in discovery — but the preservation letter still goes out first.

Phase 9 — Property

Inventory receipt obtained and kept.
Motion for return of property filed for anything not needed as evidence (or replevin outside a prosecution).
CIVIL FORFEITURE NOTICE → calendar the claim deadline the day it arrives. Short, unforgiving, and independent of the criminal case.

Phase 10 — Complaints (they build the record)

Internal affairs, in writing, with the same-day account attached.
Civilian review board, where one exists.
State attorney general / POST commission for licensing-level misconduct.
DOJ Civil Rights Division for a pattern or practice.
Every copy and reference number retained.

PART THREE — THE SUPPRESSION MOTION

Phase 11 — Standing (first, always)

Whose rights were violated? Fourth Amendment rights are personal.
Passenger → may challenge the stop, often not a trunk search.
Unauthorized driver of a rental → has standing (Byrd).
Disclaimed ownership → usually disclaimed standing.
Overnight guest → generally yes; brief commercial visitor → generally no.

Phase 12 — Burden allocation

Was there a warrant? (The first question in the file.)
No warrant → government must prove an exception applies.
Warrant → defendant must show invalidity or unlawful execution.

Phase 13 — Structure the motion around one moment

Timeline built from objective sources — CAD log, video timestamps, dispatch audio — not the narrative report.
A single instant identified: "At [time], what specific and articulable facts existed?"
Everything learned after that instant expressly excluded from the analysis.
Departures from written policy identified (the most persuasive material available).

Phase 14 — Attacking a warrant

Staleness — information too old for present probable cause.
Particularity — place or items described too generally.
Overbreadth in execution — exceeded the authorization in place, scope, or time.
[Franks] challenge — knowing or reckless falsehood, or material omission; requires a substantial preliminary showing.
Excision — strike tainted information and test whether what remains suffices.

Phase 15 — Anticipate good faith, and plead the state constitution

Good faith addressed affirmatively in the motion.
Arguments that defeat it: affidavit so lacking in indicia that reliance was unreasonable · magistrate abandoned neutrality · facially deficient warrant · knowing falsehoods.
Herring standard addressed — deliberate, reckless, grossly negligent, or systemic.
Strieff attenuation anticipated where a pre-existing warrant was found during an unlawful stop.
State constitutional analogue pleaded and researched first — a significant minority of states reject good faith entirely, and many protect more on consent, the third-party doctrine, garbage, vehicle searches, and pretext. A ruling on adequate and independent state grounds is unreviewable by the Supreme Court.

PART FOUR — BUSINESS SERVED WITH A WARRANT

Suspend automatic document and email deletion immediately. (A routine purge during a search becomes an obstruction charge.)
Ask for the warrant; read and photograph it: address and suite · areas · categories of items · date · signature.
Call counsel first; ask agents to wait.
Designate one person to accompany and log: rooms entered, times, items taken, who did what. Observe; do not interfere.
No consent beyond the warrant. Say it once if asked to open anything not described.
Assert privilege affirmatively; request segregation and a taint/filter team; log the request.
Tell employees they may decline interviews and may have counsel — without instructing anyone what to say, and without gathering them for a briefing.
Inventory receipt obtained before agents leave; compared to your own log.
Ask for a copy of any forensic image, or the chance to make one.
Afterward: insurer notified · formal litigation hold issued · disclosure obligations assessed · Rule 41(g) return of property and unsealing considered.
Nobody from the organization contacts witnesses or other employees about the substance.
(A subpoena is not a search — object, narrow, produce on a schedule, log privilege.)