Dear lopsighclop-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting question.
Having been in law enforcement myself for the past 20 plus years I can
verify that there are examples of cases where search warrants were
rendered invalid because of incorrect wording, but ONLY in instances
where prejudice toward the defendant was found or the warrant was so
rife with multiple errors that it was facially inaccurate (unlike the
single grammatical error in your case). Normally, if a search warrant
passes the muster of ?good faith? then certain accuracies are assumed
to be mere clerical errors and the warrant is deemed valid in spite of
them. If the search warrant, or the accompanying affidavits were found
to be ?intentionally? inaccurate then it would be a reasonable claim
from the defendant that evidence against him was not legally obtained
and should therefore be suppressed.
This is called ?the exclusionary rule? (sometimes called ?the good
faith exception to the exclusionary rule?) and is designed to prevent
police misconduct in direct violation of the Fourth Amendment.
The premise is historically supported by a variety of cases, just to name a few:
WEEKS v UNITED STATES (1914)
SILVER PLATTER DOCTRINE (1914-1960)
ELKINS v UNITED STATES (1960)
MAPP v OHIO (1961)
MARYLAND v GARRISON (1987)
?and the list goes on
THE EXCLUSIONARY RULE
http://www.unt.edu/cjus/Course_Pages/CJUS_4200/Chapter4.ppt
or
http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:qaffMiUUC8EJ:www.unt.edu/cjus/Course_Pages/CJUS_4200/Chapter4.ppt+%22SEARCH+WARRANT%22+%22GOOD+FAITH%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
In MASSACHUSETTS v SHEPPARD (1981) the court said:
?The exclusionary rule was never intended to extend to clerical errors
or the incorrect completion of search warrants and other forms. The
process of law enforcement is difficult enough without invalidation by
the courts of vital police work because of minor technicalities.?
SUPREME COURT CASES
http://www.phschool.com/atschool/supreme_court_cases/massachusetts.html
Here is another example:
STATE OF TENNESSEE v BARBARA FAYE POWELL, et al
Here the judge himself put the wrong date on a warrant but the warrant
was still held to be valid because the error was merely a clerical
error without prejudice to the defendant.
http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/OPINIONS/tcca/PDF/002/POWELLBF.pdf
So you see, the fact that a grammatical or clerical error exists is
not a valid defense against the validity of a search warrant. If you
are hoping to have the warrant invalidated, I?m afraid you?ll have to
take another route and base your claim on something more substantial
than a clerical error.
I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher
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