Flawed Search Warrant Affidavits and Your Defense

Were you recently presented with a search warrant by law enforcement officers that resulted in your property being searched and criminal charges being filed based on what was found and seized in that search? As part of your defense strategy, it will be extremely important to work with a criminal defense attorney in Indianapolis to determine whether the search of your home or other property was actually lawful under the circumstances. To be clear, even when the police have a warrant, that alone is not a guarantee that the warrant was lawfully issued — you could be eligible to challenge the issuance of the search warrant in a Motion to Suppress.

One way in which you may be able to argue that the warrant, and the search it enabled, was not lawful pertains to the affidavit. In order to obtain a search warrant, a law enforcement agency must file an affidavit with a judge that contains particular details. If the affidavit was not properly submitted or did not contain statutorily required information, the warrant and subsequent search may have been invalid. Consider the following information from our Indianapolis criminal defense lawyers.

Affidavit Requirements for a Search Warrant 

The following are the statutory requirements for a search warrant under IC 35-33-5-2. The affidavit must describe the house or place to be searched, and it must substantially allege the offense that the person whose property is to be searched is believed to have committed, including details about “the things sought [that] are concealed there.” In addition, the affidavit must set forth facts that make clear why there is probable cause to issue the search warrant.

The facts that show probable cause can come from the personal knowledge of the law enforcement officer seeking the warrant, or through hearsay. When the information comes through hearsay, the affidavit must establish the credibility of the source or must make clear that “the totality of the circumstances corroborates the hearsay.”

If the statutory requirements for a search warrant affidavit are not met and the search warrant was issued, the search may have been unlawful. A criminal defense lawyer can discuss details with you today in relation to your defense strategy.

Contact an Indianapolis Criminal Defense Attorney for Help with Your Defense 

If your home, workplace, vehicle, or another location was searched recently based on a warrant, and the police seized something that resulted in your arrest, it is essential to find out if the warrant was properly issued and whether the affidavit requirements were met. The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution protects you against unreasonable searches and seizures, and a search may in fact have been unreasonable — and unlawful — if there was a problem with the search warrant affidavit. Search warrants can also be invalidated for other reasons, too, which you should discuss with a lawyer.

One of the experienced Indianapolis criminal defense attorneys at Rigney Law LLC can discuss the details of your case with you today, including potential defense strategies based on the warrant issued to search your property or person. Contact our firm today.

Sources: 

law.justia.com/codes/indiana/title-35/article-33/chapter-5/section-35-33-5-2/