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TN: Judge's error (pm v. am) voided warrant because it was not a minor error under TN law

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

A judge’s scrivener’s error of writing “p.m.” instead of “a.m.” voided the warrant. The requirements of state Rule 41 serve a high and important function in protecting against abuse of search warrants. State v. Hayes, 2010 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 684 (August 18, 2010): With respect to Rule 41(c), in State v. Coffee, 54 S.W.3d 231, 233-34 (Tenn. 2001), the Tennessee Supreme Court reviewed the applicable law: These procedural safeguards are intended “to secure the citizen against carelessness and abuse in the issuance and execution of search warrants.” Talley v. State, 208 Tenn. 275, 345 S.W.2d 867, 869 (1961). “There is no writ more calculated to be abused in its use than the search warrant, for with it any home may be entered and the inmates disturbed, humiliated, and degraded...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on August 25, 2010 (boomark / email).