A search warrant can give law enforcement significant authority during a criminal investigation, but that authority is not unlimited. Police generally cannot obtain a warrant simply because they suspect criminal activity. They must establish a legal basis for the search, identify what they intend to search, and describe the evidence they expect to find.
In Los Angeles criminal investigations, search warrants may be used to search homes, businesses, vehicles, electronic devices, and other locations where investigators believe evidence may be located. Understanding how a warrant was obtained and how officers executed it can become an important part of evaluating the prosecution’s evidence.
Even when police arrive with a signed warrant, questions may remain about probable cause, the scope of the search, and whether officers followed the limits imposed by the warrant.
What Is a Search Warrant?
A search warrant is a court order authorizing law enforcement to search a specified person, place, or property for particular evidence. The Fourth Amendment requires warrants to be supported by probable cause and to particularly describe the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.
The requirement that a judge or magistrate approve the warrant creates an important layer between investigators and the person or property they want to search. Rather than allowing officers to determine on their own that a search is justified, the warrant process generally requires an independent judicial officer to evaluate whether probable cause exists.
California law also establishes specific grounds under which a search warrant may be issued. Penal Code Section 1524 permits warrants in numerous circumstances, including when property was stolen or used to commit a felony or when items may constitute evidence showing that a felony occurred or that a particular person committed it.
Probable Cause and the Search Warrant Process
Probable cause is one of the most important requirements behind a search warrant.
For a search warrant, probable cause generally means there are facts and circumstances providing a reasonable basis to believe evidence of a crime will be found in the location officers want to search. It requires more than a generalized suspicion or unsupported conclusion.
Investigators typically present information supporting the warrant request to a judge or magistrate. Depending on the investigation, that information might come from:
- Police observations
- Witness statements
- Confidential informants
- Surveillance
- Physical evidence
- Electronic communications
- Financial or business records
- Information obtained during previous searches
- Statements made by suspects or other individuals
The judicial officer then determines whether those facts establish sufficient probable cause.
An important question for the defense is not simply whether officers believed evidence might be present, but whether the facts presented in support of the warrant legally justified that belief.
Warrants Must Describe What Police Can Search
A search warrant is not supposed to operate as unlimited permission for officers to search anywhere and seize anything they find.
The Fourth Amendment’s particularity requirement is intended to prevent broad general searches. A warrant generally must identify the place officers are authorized to search and the people or items they are authorized to seize.
The description also helps determine the permissible scope of the search.
For example, imagine officers obtain a warrant authorizing them to search a residence for a stolen large-screen television. The nature and size of the item being sought may affect where officers can reasonably look. A container far too small to hold the television would raise a different issue than a room or garage where it could reasonably be located.
Different circumstances apply when officers are searching for smaller objects, documents, drugs, electronic storage devices, or other evidence that could potentially be hidden in many locations.
Because the permissible scope depends partly on what the warrant authorizes officers to find, the exact language of the warrant can become an important issue in a criminal case.
Search Warrants for Homes and Businesses
Homes receive substantial protection under the Fourth Amendment, which is why search warrants frequently play a major role when Los Angeles law enforcement agencies seek to enter and search a private residence.
A residential search can potentially uncover evidence ranging from physical objects and documents to computers, phones, weapons, financial records, or other property connected to an investigation.
Businesses may also be searched pursuant to warrants. Depending on the allegations, investigators may seek accounting records, computers, communications, surveillance footage, inventory, or other business documents.
In either situation, the defense may examine whether probable cause actually connected the location to the suspected crime. Evidence that a person is suspected of committing an offense does not necessarily establish that evidence of that offense will be found at every location associated with that person.
That connection between the alleged crime, the evidence sought, and the place searched can be an important part of reviewing a warrant.
Digital Evidence and Modern Search Warrants
Modern criminal investigations increasingly involve digital evidence.
Investigators may seek access to phones, computers, cloud accounts, emails, messages, photographs, location information, or other electronically stored data. Because electronic devices can contain enormous amounts of personal information, searches involving digital evidence can raise complicated questions about scope and privacy.
A warrant authorizing a digital search should still identify what investigators are legally authorized to search for. The existence of a warrant does not necessarily mean every piece of information stored on a device is automatically relevant or subject to unrestricted review.
Digital searches can also involve multiple stages. Officers might seize a device during the execution of a warrant and examine its contents later, or investigators may seek records held by electronic service providers.
These issues will receive a closer look later in this series when we focus specifically on cell phone and digital evidence in Los Angeles criminal cases.
How Long Is a California Search Warrant Valid?
California law places time limits on executing search warrants.
Under Penal Code Section 1534, a search warrant generally must be executed and returned within 10 days after it is issued. If it has not been executed within that period, the warrant becomes void.
Timing is one of several procedural details a defense attorney may examine when reviewing how a search was conducted.
Other questions may include when officers entered the property, which agencies participated, what areas were searched, what property was taken, and whether officers followed the instructions contained in the warrant.
Evidence Found Outside the Warrant’s Scope
One of the most important issues surrounding a search warrant is whether officers remained within its authorized scope.
The particularity requirement is designed in part to limit officers to searching locations where the evidence described in the warrant could reasonably be found. However, search warrant law also includes doctrines such as the plain-view rule, which can sometimes permit officers who are lawfully present to seize evidence not specifically listed in the warrant.
That does not mean anything discovered during a search is automatically admissible.
The circumstances surrounding the discovery matter. Courts may need to consider why officers were in a particular location, whether they were permitted to search there, and how the additional evidence was discovered.
When officers exceed the lawful scope of a warrant, the resulting evidence may become the subject of a suppression challenge.
Challenging a Search Warrant in a California Criminal Case
A signed warrant does not prevent a defendant from challenging the search.
California Penal Code Section 1538.5 allows defendants to seek suppression of evidence obtained through an unreasonable search or seizure. When a warrant was involved, potential grounds can include that the warrant was insufficient on its face, the evidence seized was not described in the warrant, probable cause did not support issuance of the warrant, or the warrant was executed in violation of constitutional standards.
A defense attorney may therefore review several parts of the warrant process, including:
- The search warrant itself
- The facts supporting probable cause
- The location identified in the warrant
- The property investigators were authorized to seize
- How officers executed the search
- Where particular evidence was discovered
- Whether investigators exceeded the authorized scope
- Whether constitutional or statutory requirements were followed
A problem in one of these areas does not automatically result in suppression. Courts consider the specific facts and applicable legal rules before determining whether evidence may be used.
Search Warrants Can Shape the Entire Criminal Case
A search warrant can produce some of the most significant evidence used in a criminal prosecution.
Drugs, weapons, financial records, electronic communications, photographs, physical property, and digital data may all become important pieces of the prosecution’s case. That makes the legality of the search itself an important issue for the defense to investigate.
When a search warrant plays a major role in a Los Angeles criminal case, reviewing the warrant and its execution can help determine whether law enforcement operated within constitutional limits.
Los Angeles Criminal Defense and Search Warrant Challenges
Seeing officers arrive with a search warrant can make it appear that every aspect of the search has already been legally approved. In reality, obtaining the warrant is only one part of the process.
Questions may still exist about whether probable cause supported the warrant, whether its language was sufficiently specific, whether officers searched only authorized areas, and whether evidence was seized lawfully.
If you are facing criminal charges following the execution of a search warrant in Los Angeles, Simmons & Wagner can review the circumstances surrounding the search, the evidence obtained, and any potential grounds for challenging its use.
Contact Simmons & Wagner to discuss your case and learn more about your legal options.