Section 9.14 Background and Purpose

• Library: Criminal Practice 2012 Supp

A. (§9.14) Background and Purpose

“A search warrant is a written order of a court commanding the search of a person, place, or thing and the seizure, or photographing or copying, of property found thereon or therein.” Section 542.266.1, RSMo 2000. A warrant interposes a judicial officer between the citizen and the police officer or prosecutor engaged in “the often competitive enterprise of ferreting out crime.” Johnson v. United States, 333 U.S. 10, 14 (1948). The warrant requirement serves to protect privacy by ensuring that only those searches that are justified occur and by guaranteeing to citizens that “the intrusion is authorized by law, and that it is narrowly limited in its objectives and...