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D.V.I.: Delayed notice of sneak and peek does not per se require exclusion

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Delayed notice of a covert entry under 18 U.S.C. § 3103 does not per se justify exclusion of the evidence. United States v. Christopher, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28240 (D. V.I. March 31, 2009): What constitutes a reasonable time for delayed notice will depend upon the circumstances of each individual case and the Court bears in mind the ongoing nature of the investigation as well as the manner in which the delayed notice search warrant was executed in this case. See id. at 1337. The Court takes into account that, generally, a covert entry search is less intrusive than a conventional search with physical seizure because the latter deprives the owner not only of privacy but also of the use of his property. See Villegas, 899 F.2d at 1337. It is also the Court's perception that a covert entry search is less intrusive than a wiretap or video camera surveillance because "the physical search is of relatively short duration, focuses the search specifically on the items listed in the warrant, and produces information as of a given moment, whereas the electronic surveillance is ongoing and indiscriminate ...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on April 09, 2009 (boomark / email).