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CA3: Overbroad search warrant saved by good faith exception

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Good faith cures (nearly) all ills. The overbroad search warrant here was saved by good faith exception. [Because it’s child porn, that’s why.] United States v. Tracey, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 4204 (3d Cir. March 1, 2010): The United States Government appeals the order of the District Court suppressing evidence seized and a statement made during a search conducted pursuant to a warrant. The Court held that the warrant was general and not cured by the affidavit of probable cause because it was not incorporated into the warrant. The Court also concluded that a reasonably objective police officer would have recognized that the warrant was defective, and thus the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule did not apply. On appeal, the Government argues that the warrant was not general because it incorporated the narrower affidavit, that the search was limited to the scope of that affidavit, and that, in any event, the good faith exception applies to the circumstances of this case...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on March 04, 2010 (boomark / email).