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CA10: Garrison applies to permit a search of a separate tenancy discovered after the raid started that could not be objectively determined from the outside

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Officers were allowed to make a reasonable mistake as to the scope of the warrant for a search of the premises that actually included a separate renter they did not know about, as in Garrison. The good faith exception saves it, anyway. United States v. Esterline, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 16135 (10th Cir. July 29, 2008): Even if we were to assume for appellate purposes the warrant was overbroad, we conclude the officers' failure to realize this overbreadth was objectively reasonable. The district court found the trailer to be a single residence with roommates, not a multi-unit dwelling. The finding is fully supported by the evidence. Nothing inside or out would suggest the trailer contained multiple separate units. The residence is identified by a single address and the components were melded into one large structure interconnected with common passageways...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on August 02, 2008 (boomark / email).