Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

how do you get the affidavid for probable cause warrant to be issued is it my right to show cause for a search warrant to be obtained, cant i know how it came to be


Asked on 3/05/10, 8:10 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

Your question isn't entirely clear. If you're asking whether you can get a court to issue a warrant authorizing a search, the answer is no. If your property has been searched and you want to know whether you can see the evidence that persuaded the judge to issue the warrant, the answer is also no -- at least until after you have been charged.

Warrants are obtained by police and/or prosecutors, not by private individuals. You have no standing to ask a court to issue a warrant. You can tell the police and prosecutors what happened; if they think there is a crime worth investigating they will investigate it, though not necessarily the way you would want them to (for example, they might not deem the particular search you want them to conduct necessary). Whether and how to proceed based upon your report is for them to decide.

Even if you could get a search warrant on your own, you would not be allowed to execute it. Only law enforcement can do that. Allowing private citizens to execute search warrants would just invite violence and litigation.

The affidavits and other evidence that a court considers when deciding whether to issue a warrant are confidential unless and until charges are filed. Once that happens the defendant is entitled to see these materials. In some instances these materials are partially based upon the word of confidential informants. The identity of those informants will not be included in the papers, but there may be other ways to get that information.

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Answered on 3/10/10, 9:23 pm


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