Tag: Search Warrant

A no-knock search warrant was executed on Larry Lee Arman’s home in St. Paul on July 9, 2014. Arman’s two children and girlfriend were also present in the home at the time the search warrant was executed. The two children were on the main level in the line of fire when the SWAT team barged, unannounced into the home.
A warrant is a legal document that gives the police the authority to make an arrest or search a premises. There are two common types of warrants: arrest warrants and search warrants.
The United States Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the natural dissipation of alcohol in the human bloodstream is not a sufficient justification by itself to avoid the warrant requirement to conduct a blood draw in a routine drunk driving investigation. The long awaited McNeely decision (we previously previewed the McNeely case and its potential impact on Minnesota DWI cases last month) says that circumstances may arise in individual cases that make obtaining a warrant impractical, but the natural dissipation alone is insufficient to conduct a warrantless blood draw after a driving while impaired arrest.
Facing a charge of possessing, distribution, receiving, or producing child pornographyis a scary proposition. Not only do child pornography charges carry the possibility of long prison sentences and registration as a predatory offender, but even being charged with anything related to child pornography results in a serious social stigma against you.
Recently, the California state legislature passed a bill that would require law-enforcement officers to obtain a warrant before searching an arrested person’s cellphone. While, the California law does not impact people who live in Minnesota, the law is central to a criminal defense discussion about information collection by law enforcement, electronic devices and search warrants.