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Mere typo in affidavit immaterial where address in warrant is correct and the officer was at the correct address

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Typographical error (4311 v. 4511) in affidavit was just that. There was a photograph of 4511, the officer had been to 4511 with the CI, and there was no 4311. This was in handwritten additions made to the affidavit at the request of the magistrate after the officer expanded on the showing of probable cause. United States v. Johnson, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 67429 (D. D.C. September 5, 2008): Detective Sepeck's handwritten additions to his affidavit were clearly made "in the midst and haste of a criminal investigation." Ventresca, 380 U.S. at 108. Those additions were made in front of the Superior Court judge and at her request, after Detective Sepeck had described these further efforts at corroboration by law enforcement. The simple error in the address numbers was not noted and had no effect on the fundamentals of the affidavit -- or, more importantly, the facial validity of the Search Warrant itself upon which the executing officers relied...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on September 09, 2008 (boomark / email).