Category: Search Warrants
Specific Date of Activity Not Needed to Obtain a Search Warrant
For a judge or magistrate to issue a search warrant, probable cause for the search must be first established. This is done within an affidavit filed in support of the request for the warrant. The affidavit must supply the facts supporting probable cause for a search. In the recent case of State v. Graves, E2011-02471-CCA-R3-CD (Tenn.Crim.App. 10-4-2012),
Sometimes Color Matters in Search Warrants
Search warrants must specifically describe what property is authorized to be searched. Ambiguity can render the warrant invalid. In the recent case of State v. Spivey, W2010-01853-CCA-R3-CD (Tenn.Crim.App. 9-19-2011), a search warrant described a home with tan siding at a particular address. The search revealed crack cocaine, a digital scale, and a handgun. The problem was that
From Cell Phone Photography to Search Warrant
Wal-Mart usually isn’t a place that most people would consider ideal for some photography practice. But for one man and his cell phone, it turned out to be a particularly bad idea. One leading indirectly to a felony conviction for sexual exploitation of a minor. In the case of State v. Herrera, W2010-01826-CCA-R3-CD (Tenn.Crim.App. 7-5-2011), the Defendant