Search Warrants Part 3 - The Affidavit

In our prior post, we reviewed some of the key elements your attorney should look for on the face page of a search warrant. In this post, we will review examples of points that your attorney should focus on in the affidavit. I have attached a link to a Santa Cruz search warrant as an example.https://www.cityofsantacruz.com/home/showdocument?id=74970

First, your attorney should determine who the affiant (the person signing the affidavit) is. Then they should figure out if the affiant also signed the face page of the warrant. If they are not the same person, your attorney has some homework. They should figure out what role the face page officer/signer had in the investigation. They should also determine why this other officer signed the face page. There are many reasons why a different officer signs an affidavit. Your attorney should figure out why, sometimes it helps your case.

Next, your attorney should read the entire affidavit. While reading the search warrant they analyzing it to make sure that an objective reader would think. They are imagining what an objective magistrate/judge would think and whether there is a strong suspicion that a crime was committed. This standard of analysis is effectively the same as "probable cause".

In our next post in this series, we will discuss additional steps you will want to take with respect to your search warrant.