A facially-defective anticipatory search warrant cannot be cured with an affidavit that is not presented to the property owner. The “inartfully drafted” warrant issued in this case did not specify that it was an anticipatory warrant, i.e., one that depended upon certain triggering conditions in order to make the warrant valid. When the warrant was served, officers presented the property owners with a copy of the warrant itself plus attachments describing the place to be searched and the items to be seized, but did not provide them with a copy of the affidavit describing the triggering events necessary to establish probable cause. The Ninth Circuit held that the failure to present the affidavit to the homeowners rendered the warrant constitutionally invalid and the search illegal.
Case Summaries