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D.Colo.: Hearing ordered for participation of private parties in a search

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant gets a hearing on his claim that National Insurance Crime Bureau unlawfully participated in execution of a search warrant allegedly in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 3105. United States v. Griggs, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 47819 (D. Colo. May 22, 2009). § 3105 provides: A search warrant may in all cases be served by any of the officers mentioned in its direction or by an officer authorized by law to serve such warrant, but by no other person, except in aid of the officer on his requiring it, he being present and acting in its execution. The court held: The motion alleges that the federal agents executing the warrant permitted individuals associated with the National Insurance Crime Bureau ("NICB") -- a private, insurance industry-created entity with no actual law enforcement powers -- to assist in the execution of the warrant, to seize computers and other property belonging to DRI, and to conduct essentially custodial interviews of witnesses in the course of executing the warrant...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on June 11, 2009 (boomark / email).