California Law Makes Affidavits For Search Warrants Private
I’m going to have to think over this for a while. In order to obtain a search warrant law enforcement officers must submit an affadavit to the court spelling out the whys and wheres and other information they have that gives them the probable cause necessary for the court to issue a warrant to search property without the owner’s permission. This affadavit has always become public record upon the issuance of the search warrant unless specifically ordered otherwise by the judge. California wants to change this procedure in their state courts. The affadavit still has to be filed for the search warrant to be obtained but they want the affadavit to remain secret by default. The defendent still will have the right to challange the warrant but will not have access to the affadavit used to procure the warrant. On the surface it stinks to high heaven but I’m not sure that it actually violates the 4th Amendment. This will be something to watch.
General | Larry Burton | 26 April 2002 |
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By Melody, 7/6/2005 @ 1:49 am
I had the opportunity to serve on a jury in a federal criminal trial recently, wherein one of the charges against the defendant was threatening a government employee. The search warrant copy left at the def’s apartment included an affidavit showing that the def’s mail carrier had supplied info to the FBI in confirming the def’s address. Subsequently the def read the affidavit and became very irate and threatened the postal worker, saying basically: “If you keep helping the FBI, you could get shot!” After the trial, I asked if this was a mistake that the affidavit info was left attached to the warrant, and was told,no, it is required by law in California! I think the law needs to be changed.
By Larry D. Burton, 7/7/2005 @ 3:22 pm
Melody, I understand your concern but I contend that the accused is entitled to know their accuser. It keeps everyone honest.