Do police have to leave a copy of the search warrant at my home?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Do police have to leave a copy of the search warrant at my home?
My home was invaded by local law officers and I was never left a copy of the search warrant at my house or otherwise given a copy. I was booked into jail on charges that were not true and a search warrant was not in my possession at the time. I later got a copy from the courthouse. The warrant says nothing about safes or lock boxes of any sort, yet they tore the door off of my safe after ripping it out of the wall. My gun safe was also pried open. They say they found drugs in an open safe yet there were no drugs and it wasn’t open obviously by the amount of damage that was done to it.
Asked on March 12, 2011 under Criminal Law, Washington
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
As a general rule, there is no legal requirement that the police show a copy of a search warrant. The fact is that many times such warrants are obtained over the phone from an "on-call" judge. As a result the actual warrant itself may not be immediately available. While the police may show the face page of a warrant to avoid any confrontations or to convince a person that there is a warrant, it's not typically a legal requirement. However, the law regarding this varies from state-to-state.
As for the extent of an allowable search, this issue can get complex - was the warrant valid in the first place; was the execution valid; etc? In your situation the police may well have exceeded the scope of the warrant. The best thing for you to do here is to consult directly with a criminal law attorney in your area.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.