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NJ: Second entry under same warrant was proper because police were on the trail of a subject of the SW; NJ adopts "reasonable continuation" doctrine

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Under the "reasonable continuation" doctrine, a single search warrant could provide authorization for the executing officers to make more than one entry into the premises identified in the warrant if they were unable to locate an item of evidence specified in the warrant during their initial entry. In order for a re-entry into premises to be considered a reasonable continuation of the search authorized by the warrant, two conditions had to be satisfied: first, the subsequent entry had to be a continuation of the original search, rather than a new and separate search; and second, the decision to conduct a second entry to continue the search had to be reasonable under the totality of the circumstances. Both conditions were satisfied. State v. Finesmith, 2009 N...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on May 17, 2009 (boomark / email).