Legal Question in Criminal Law in Minnesota
If law enforcement charges someone with a crime and they are found not guilty would a search warrant be thrown out? Also if officers are searching for something that is not on the warrant, then leave to get a warrant for those items, is that legal?
3 Answers from Attorneys
As to your first question, this normally happens in reverse. First they execute the search warrant, then you will go to trial to determine if you are convicted.
As to the second, it depends on where they are searching, what they find, and the validity of the first warrant. But generally, yes that is legal.
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I am not sure I understand the question. If a person is found not guilty of an offense, the search warrant and its results are irrelevant. If a search warrant is found invalid any evidence seized can be suppressed. That does not mean that automatically charges are dismissed . It would depend on whether independent evidence exists to support the charge.
If additional information is acquired as part of a valid search and that information is sufficient to support probable cause for a new warrant, then a new warrant for additional material may be legally acquired.
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Law enforcement officers investigate possible crimes but do not charge someone with a crime. Only a prosecuting attorney can file a criminal charge (or ask a Grand Jury to do so). Search warrants are normally executed before a person is charged with a crime. So it would be rare indeed for a person to be found not guilty before a search warrant was executed.
If police officers are searching for something that is not authorized by the warrant; can they then lawfully leave to get a warrant for those items? It would depend upon the specific situation. For example, if police were authorized to search for a stolen rifle, and in so doing found a stolen shotgun, then, yes. But police were authorized to search for a stolen rifle, and in so doing looked inside a small safe less than ten inches cubed, and found drugs, I would say "no."
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