Can I be charged if a search warrant was 2 years and 3 months old?

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Can I be charged if a search warrant was 2 years and 3 months old?

There was a simple knock at my door so I opened it an inch to ask who it was and 2 men pushed the door open all the way and pushed me out of their way to come into my home. They told me and my girlfriend to sit on the couch while five more undercover and task force officers went threw my house, the whole time I was asking “Can I ask why your here? Are you sure you have the right house?” They told me to shut up they will explain later. They then took me and my gf into their truck, questioned us, took her weed and left. They gave us the search warrant on the way out; it was dated for 27 monhs ago.

Asked on July 4, 2012 under Criminal Law, Indiana

Answers:

Kevin Bessant / Law Office of Kevin Bessant & Associates

Answered 11 years ago | Contributor

The validity of this search warrant should definitely be challenged by an Attorney in court. For a search warrant to be valid, law enforcement, or the party executing the search warrant has to indicate on the search warrant the items and areas to be searched, as well as the probable cause that a crime has or is being committed, and that a search is necessary, before a Judge or Magistrate will sign off on the warrant. It appears that this was the case 27 months ago. The issue here is whether or not this warrant has since gone stale. Just because a warrant was authorized by a Judge does not mean that it has to immediately be acted upon or executed. However, many things can change over the course of 27 months that can impact the officer's probable cause to perform the search, so I would advise contacting a criminal defense attorney in your area to challenge the validity of the search warrant.


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