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S.D. Tex.: GFE saves typo in address of place to be searched

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The search warrant had a typographical error in the address of the place to be searched, but the right place was searched. The good faith exception applies to save the search warrant. United States v. Harris, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20580 (S.D. Tex. March 16, 2009): Under the circumstances of this case, the Court concludes that the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule shall apply. The facts in the instant case are analogous to those in Gordon, where the officer-affiant who mistakenly identified the premises accompanied the executing officers on the search and pointed out the proper location. In Gordon, the Fifth Circuit relied on the Eleventh Circuit's decision in United States v. Burke, 784 F.2d 1090 (11th Cir. 1986), to uphold the validity of a warrant even though it contained an incorrect address because, inter alia, the affiant accompanied the executing officers on the search and was able to point out the proper location...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on March 18, 2009 (boomark / email).