Chapter 15
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Search Warrants
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Search Warrants
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Search warrants fall under the 4th
Amendment
The police must have “Probable Cause”
Must sign an “affadavit” to that effect
Must have a Judge approve the warrant
There are time limits on search warrants
When evidence is obtained without a
search warrant the burden is upon the
government to show that the evidence
was obtained under one of the
“established and well delineated
exceptions”
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Types of Search Warrants
 “Daytime”
vs “Nighttime” search
warrants
 No-Knock or unannounced
entries
 Anticipatory search warrants
 “Sneak and peek” entry warrants
 Searches of computers and other
documentary evidence
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Wiretapping and electronic
surveillance
 Prior to 1968 the United States did not
have any laws governing wiretapping
and electronic surveillance.
 In 1968 Congress enacted the Federal
Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance
Act. Most states followed by enacting
similar state laws making the following
changes in the law of electronic
surveillance:
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Katz v. United States
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U.S. Congress enacted this act (Federal
Wiretapping Act) after the FBI had
attached an electronic listening device to
a public telephone booth.
The U.S. Supreme Court held that this
was a violation of Katz’s Fourth
Amendment rights
The decision has to do with the PERSON’s
right to privacy, NOT the PLACE.
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Aerial Surveillance?
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In 1986 the court ruled that information
gathered by aircraft of a suspects home,
was not in violation of the Fourth
Amendment because it was a general
observation and therefore admissible
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California v. Ciraolo
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Confrontational telephone calls
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requires cooperation of the witness or
victim and the call has to placed before
criminal charges have been filed
 IF the call is AFTER charges have been
filed, are “accusatory”, and designed to
elicit an incriminating statement, the
Massiah Rule would apply and the
person would have to be admonished.
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The
laws authorize court
orders permitting wiretapping
and/or electronic surveillance
by law enforcement officers in
much the same manner as
search warrants are issued.
The act makes wiretapping
and electronic surveillance
done in violation of the act
a felony.
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Techniques of lawful electronic
surveillance
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The three primary techniques of
electronic surveillance available
to law enforcement agencies
are:
Pen Registers
 Trap and Trace Devices
 Interception of the Content of
the Message
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Situations where court orders are
not required.
 Overheard
Conversations
 Undercover officers may
testify about what was said
in their presence
 Use of pocket tape recorders
and the crime of bribery
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Situations where court orders are
not required cont….
 When
one party to a telephone
conversation consents to the
police listening and/or
recording the conversation
 Obtaining evidence by use of
the confrontational telephone
call
 Using body wires or radio
transmitters
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Kyllo v U.S.
of THERMAL
Imaging devices are
RESTRICTED and a
warrant must be
obtained.
 Use
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Obtaining evidence by use of
dogs trained to indicate an alert
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Drug and Bomb Detection Dogs
 In using dog-detection evidence
in criminal courts, keeping and
maintaining updated records on
the dog and its handler is
essential because the challenge
to this evidence generally is the
dog’s reliability.
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Obtaining evidence by use of dogs trained
to indicate an alert cont..
 Testimony
on the dog reliability:
The training that the dog
received to detect the odors for
particular drugs
The dog’s success rate in
detecting these drugs
The method used to train the dog
to indicate an alert
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Obtaining evidence by use of dogs trained
to indicate an alert cont…
 Whether
the dog alerted in the
proper manner
 Proof of the dog’s certification
 Proof that the dog has continued to
meet certification requirements
and has continued to receive
necessary training on a regular
basis.
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