| Whenever a crime occurs and evidence of that crime | | | | make it official. |
| is believed to be within suspects private residence, | | | | Sometimes, getting a search warrant to find |
| law enforcement officials must obtain a search | | | | evidence of a crime can be difficult, and it is not |
| warrant before entering the property. Otherwise, the | | | | always cut and dry like you see on the CSI TV |
| homeowner is protected against any unreasonable | | | | shows. Probable cause can be one of the first issues |
| search and seizure by the Fourth Amendment of the | | | | to prevent a warrant from being official. The law |
| U.S. Constitution. | | | | enforcement official must have a strong reason for |
| The search warrant must be specific about the time, | | | | believing that the items he is searching are at the |
| place, and items that investigators are searching and | | | | specified location. A hunch or a suspicion on his part |
| must be obtained on the basis of probable cause, | | | | simply is not enough. |
| which is a hard reason approved by a judge. Only law | | | | Another problem that arises when making a warrant |
| enforcement officials have the ability to obtain a | | | | official is that the warrant must describe exactly |
| search warrant. Lawyers, private investigators, and | | | | what police are looking for. For this reason, police |
| private individuals can not. | | | | tend to add any and all items they believe may be |
| The steps required to get a valid search warrant are | | | | present. If police happen to discover other evidence |
| as follows: | | | | while they are conducting a legitimate search for the |
| 1. Preparing the affidavit: This affidavit describes the | | | | items listed in the warrant, then that evidence CAN |
| place to be searched, the items to be searched, and | | | | be taken into their custody. |
| the reasons why the officer expects the items will | | | | Finally, another difficulty that arises when getting a |
| be found at the location (probable cause). | | | | search warrant is that the area to be searched must |
| 2. Preparing the warrant: This step results in the | | | | be explicitly defined. For example, if a search warrant |
| official document be signed by a judge permitting law | | | | identifies a house, but does not specifically mention |
| enforcement to enter the premises for the search to | | | | that the storage shack or garage can be searched, |
| take place. | | | | then those places not spelled out in the warrant |
| 3. Getting the warrant signed: Law enforcement | | | | cannot be searched. If a warrant describes a garage |
| officials present the warrant and affidavit to the | | | | to be searched but not the car parked within, then |
| judge. If the judge believes there is probable cause | | | | the garage can be searched but not the car. |
| for a search to take place, he signs the warrant to | | | | |