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Telephonic search: Failure to of officers to have a duplicate warrant after USMJ authorized search was not a prejudicial failure

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Telephonic warrant was "issued" at 11:37 pm by a USMJ authorizing a cocaine search because officers were concerned that they could not obtain a paper warrant without the cocaine being lost to conspirators. There was no dispute there was probable cause and an oral authorization over the phone to enter. The USMJ went back to bed. The officers, however, failed to prepare a duplicate warrant of their own. The district court erred in holding that the search was "warrantless" because the defendants were not prejudiced by the lack of a paper warrant. United States v. Cazares-Olivas, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 1851 (7th Cir. January 29, 2008): After they arrested Francisco Cazares-Olivas and Israel Aguilera for drug offenses, federal agents sought a warrant to search the house where, the agents believed, Cazares-Olivas and Aguilera kept their inventory...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on January 30, 2008 (boomark / email).