Law enforcement uses arrest warrants to locate, arrest and detain the individual named in the warrant. A judge or magistrate issues a warrant based on information presented to them by law enforcement or a government prosecutor.
The information is presented in a sworn affidavit, a statement made under oath, that communicates the evidence law enforcement has which shows the justification for the arrest, i.e., probable cause to believe that the person to be arrested committed a crime.
Law enforcement uses search warrants to enter a location in which the owner has a right to privacy in order to search for evidence of criminal activity. A judge or magistrate also issues a search warrant based on information presented to them by law enforcement or a government prosecutor in a sworn affidavit.
The information must establish probable cause to believe that a specific crime has been committed and that specific evidence of that crime will be found in the place to be searched.
In New York, the issuance and implementation of search warrants are governed by New York Criminal Procedure law and federal law as well.
New York Criminal Procedure law details very specific requirements regarding the scope of search warrants and how they can be obtained. The locations that can be searched are premises, vehicles or a person specified in the warrant. If the police are authorized to search premises or a vehicle, they may also search any person who is present in the location.
With a search warrant, police officers have the authority they need to enter and search a particular place or a person in order to find and seize the physical items specified in the warrant because it is viewed as evidence of a crime.
New York law requires that a search warrant be executed within 10 days of its issuance. It must then be returned to the court that issued it promptly. New York courts have the reputation of enforcing the rules regarding search warrants strictly. A court may find the evidence has been seized illegally if there has been any deviation from the rules.
A New York lawyer would be able to help a person understand the critical role that arrest and search warrants play in our criminal justice system.
What Is the Purpose of an Arrest Warrant in New York
The purpose of an arrest warrant in New York is to give law enforcement the legal authority they need to locate and then detain a person whom they suspect of committing a crime. Again, a judge or magistrate issues an arrest warrant if law enforcement presents an affidavit that establishes probable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has committed a crime.
Law enforcement can then hold the person until they can be charged with a criminal offense. Once charged, a person is brought before a judge. The judge decides whether the person can be released if they post bail or without posting bail, until a trial can take place.
An arrest warrant must contain the following information to be valid:
- A description of the specific crime that has been committed with citation to legal authority
- A description of the individual to be arrested because evidence supports the claim that they perpetrated the specific crime identified in the warrant
- The identification of any victims of the criminal activity
- An order directing police officers to take the perpetrator identified in the warrant into custody.
The arrest warrant gives any and all law enforcement officers the authority to arrest the suspect. The officers who are investigating a certain crime do not have to be the ones who effect the arrest.
The fact that an arrest warrant for a certain individual has been issued is broadcast online both statewide and nationwide through law enforcement databases. If a law enforcement officer checks the person’s identification and arrest record, e.g., during a traffic stop, they learn about the warrant and have the authority to arrest them.
What Is the Purpose of a Search Warrant in New York?
Federal law also plays a critical role in connection with arrest and search warrants in New York and in every other state in the U.S. Law enforcement officers need a search warrant to enter a place in which the owner has an expectation of privacy because of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Fourth Amendment states as follows:
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
There are exceptions to the requirement to get a warrant that are discussed below. However, if no exception applies to the circumstances, law enforcement must obtain a search warrant.
For example, the police may find the body of a person who is deceased. From the available evidence, the police conclude that the deceased person was the victim of murder by an act of violence. The police investigate further and find another person’s blood on the floor in the vicinity of the deceased victim. The police would suspect that this might be the blood of the perpetrator of the murder.
Meanwhile, the police interview a family member of the victim who informs them that the ex-partner of the victim has harassed the victim, stalked them and threatened violence. They also own a firearm.
The police would present this information in a sworn affidavit to a judge and ask for a search warrant to get blood and saliva samples from the ex-partner. Law enforcement could then do DNA testing of the blood or saliva samples to see if the DNA matches the DNA of the blood sample found near the victim.
Under normal circumstances, without a valid warrant or in the absence of circumstances that come within an exception to the warrant requirement, law enforcement cannot collect a blood or saliva sample from a person.
What Do Arrest and Search Warrants Have in Common in New York?
Both arrest and search warrants can be obtained only if law enforcement or prosecutors present a judge with an affidavit in which they present enough information to establish probable cause. A judge must have probable cause to issue either a search or an arrest warrant.
Of course, there are exceptions to the warrant requirement for an arrest or a search. These are explained below. But exceptions are limited and specific. Generally, law enforcement officers need a warrant in order to arrest a person or search a person or private locations.
A police officer who has probable cause to conduct a search or arrest a person must know facts based on evidence that create probable cause. The evidence must support the proposition that the person to be arrested committed a specific crime. Or, if the officer seeks a search warrant, the evidence must support the claim that the officer will find specific, identifiable evidence of a crime in the place to be searched.
It is not enough for an officer to say that they think an individual committed a crime or that they have a hunch that maybe some good evidence can be found in a certain place. The officer must have evidence to support their opinion, and their opinion must be grounded in facts.
What Are the Differences Between Search Warrants and Arrest Warrants in New York?
One of the main differences in search v. arrest warrants is the fact that there are different exceptions to the requirement that police get a warrant before searching a place or arresting an individual.
The U.S. Supreme Court has created several important exceptions to the requirement that law enforcement obtain a valid warrant to conduct a search. These search warrant exceptions are as follows:
- Exigent Circumstances: A police officer may respond to emergency situations that could threaten public safety. In such situations, it may not be possible for an officer to draft a warrant application, present it to a judge, and get a warrant.
- The delay could lead to serious negative consequences, such as the destruction of critical evidence. So, if an officer confronts an emergency situation in which they believe that some exigency justifies a warrantless search, they can go forward with a search.
- Plain View: If an officer responds to a call and, in the course of their response, sees evidence in plain view, they may seize it. For example, an officer could respond to a resident in response to a report of domestic violence. The residents may consent to the officer entering the residence to address the alleged domestic violence. While standing in the living room, the officer may see controlled substances and drug paraphernalia lying out in plain view on the coffee table. The officer may seize the controlled substances and paraphernalia as evidence of the crime of illegal possession of a controlled substance.
- Search Incident to an Arrest: If the police arrest someone, they can search the person and the area within that person’s immediate control without a warrant. The search would be limited to the area within the reach of the individual.
- The rationale for allowing arrest searches is that it allows officers to ensure their own safety, as they may find weapons on the detainee. It also allows officers to prevent a suspect from destroying evidence. However, while officers can search the person and the area within their reach, more extensive physical searches may require additional justification or a search warrant.
- Consent: The owner of a space or location always has the right to voluntarily consent to a search. For example, the owner of a car may consent to a roadside search of their car’s trunk. Or, the tenant in a residential unit may give law enforcement consent to search their apartment.
- An individual, e.g., a roommate, who shares a space with others, has common authority and can give consent to a search. Also, if the police reasonably believe that an individual has the authority to consent to a search, the search may be valid, although it later turns out that they in fact did not have the requisite authority.
- Automobile Exceptions: The owner of a vehicle is entitled to a reduced expectation of privacy in their vehicle than they have in their homes and places of business. This is because they are mobile and operate on public roads.
- Under the automobile exception, police can search a vehicle without a warrant if they have probable cause to believe it contains evidence of a crime or illegal items, e.g., controlled substances. So a police officer may be able to search the interior of your car and even the trunk if you are stopped for a traffic violation. However, much would depend on the reason for which the police stop you on the road.
- Special Needs: The exception applies when a government, federal or state, conducts searches that are mainly aimed at advancing some special public goal other than criminal law enforcement. The search program must be reasonable when balanced against the public interest in protecting privacy.
- For example, local police agencies sometimes set up drunk-driving checkpoints. All drivers who travel past the checkpoint are stopped and checked for signs of intoxication. If they appear intoxicated, they are subject to testing. Then, if testing shows that the driver’s blood alcohol content is unacceptably high, they may be arrested for driving under the influence.
- These checkpoints are considered justified, because they take drivers who threaten public safety off our roads and highways.
- Stop and Frisk: Police may detain a person for a brief, investigative stop if they have a reasonable suspicion that the person stopped is engaged in criminal activity or may in the immediate future engage in criminal activity. This standard is lower than probable cause. If the officer also has a reasonable suspicion that the person is armed and dangerous, they may perform a frisk.
A frisk is a simple pat-down of a person’s outer clothing. It is strictly protective in nature, and the purpose of it is to find weapons and ensure officer safety. It is not supposed to be treated as a comprehensive search for evidence of a crime.
There are also exceptions to the requirement that law enforcement have a warrant for an arrest. However, the exceptions are somewhat different from those for a search warrant.
One of the most important is when an officer sees a perpetrator committing a crime. In this case, an officer is considered to have probable cause to take the perpetrator of the crime into custody.
In addition, even if an officer has not personally observed a crime in progress, they may have probable cause for an arrest. For example, a police officer may hear a police radio report to the effect that an individual in a red hoodie and blue jeans just robbed a nearby gas station using a firearm.
The officer is not far away from the store and sees a person dressed in a red hoodie and blue jeans walking fast down the street. The officer has probable cause to stop the individual and conduct a frisk search of them.
If the officer finds a gun and a large amount of cash on the detainee, the officer then has probable cause to arrest them. The total circumstances, including the report and the items found in the search, establish probable cause for the officer to have a reasonable belief that the person committed the robbery.
One of the most significant differences between search and arrest is the fact that evidence obtained by the police illegally, in violation of the search warrant requirement and allowed exceptions, must be excluded from any trial that follows from it.
The legal rule that requires this result is known as the “exclusionary rule,” and it plays an important role in trial procedure in criminal cases. A New York lawyer consultation would help a person understand the exclusionary rule.
However, it is also true that if the police detain a person illegally without an arrest warrant and find and seize evidence as a result of the arrest, the exclusionary rule would apply. The rule would mean that the evidentiary items found as a result of the illegal arrest would not be allowed into evidence in court.
Do I Need a New York Lawyer for Warrant Issues?
If your property has been searched and you believe it was not legally justified, you want to talk to a New York criminal defense lawyer. Your lawyer will review the facts of the search and the evidence that the police have. Your lawyer will especially focus on how the police obtained the evidence and whether it was the product of an illegal search.
Your lawyer will know how to challenge the search and the prosecution’s use of any evidence against you that may have been obtained illegally. If you have been arrested and believe that the arrest was illegal, you too want to consult a New York criminal defense lawyer.
You will get the best possible outcome to your criminal case if you have a New York criminal defense lawyer to help you.
