Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Fourth Amendment

Criminal Law

: Fourth Amendment

M.D.Fla.: SW was general as to the people to be seized: "any persons ... involved in this investigation"

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

A search warrant authorizing “the search of said location and any persons found therein and or involved in this investigation ... and if the property above described is found there, to seize it and arrest all persons in the unlawful possession thereof, ...” violated the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Thomas, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20119 (M.D. Fla. February 28, 2011): Even if the Search Warrant incorporated the affidavit and the affidavit accompanied the warrant, as required by Groh v. Ramirez, 540 U.S. 551, 557-58 (2004), it would still constitute an unconstitutional general warrant. The Search Warrant purported to authorize law enforcement officers to seize and search persons who were involved in this investigation without defining in any fashion the investigation or the persons or how they were “involved,” and without even limiting the authority to “involved” persons at or near the Residence...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on March 04, 2011 (boomark / email).