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Name: U.S. v. Hurd
Case #: 06-30592
Opinion Date: 08/24/2007
Citation: 499 Fed.3d 963
Summary

A search pursuant to a warrant is unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment, and thus, unconstitutional, if performed outside the proper judicial authorization. (Groth v. Ramirez (2004) 540 U.S. 551; McDonald v. United States (1948) 335 U.S. 451.)

If the police go beyond the scope of an authorized search and search places or seize evidence not included in the warrant, suppression is the remedy. (United States v. Mittleman (9th Cir. 1993) 999 F.2d 440.) In this case, the police officer presented a completed affidavit and search warrant to the judge. The officer used a warrant form that he obtained from the police department computer. He filled it in with three paragraphs describing the person and places to be searched. When the judge reviewed it, she initialed the paragraphs describing defendant and his car, but not the one describing his residence, and signed the warrant. The circumstances surrounding the issuance of the warrant, the contents of the warrant, and the circumstances of the search supported the district court’s finding that the warrant authorized the search of the residence, despite the judge’s failure to initial the paragraph describing the residence.