Legal Question in Criminal Law in New Mexico

(1) A properly worded arrest warrant, legally sufficient and signed by an authorized Judge, permits LE to apprehend a person and search that person and the immediate area about him/her for weapons/officer safety. An arrest warrant does not permit an extensive search of anything else, such as a house or car. (2) A search warrant does not provide authority to arrest someone, although the search may provide probable cause to do so, but if properly worded, legally sufficient and properly executed, it provides authority to search the areas/items named within it for particularly-described items, documents, computers, etc. The law requires LE to file an inventory of things seized under a search warrant, usually with in a short time, and to provide the occupier of the premises with a copy.