{"id":1601,"date":"2008-02-16T06:35:41","date_gmt":"2007-12-14T18:05:05","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2007-12-14T18:05:05","slug":"en-US","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/?p=1601","title":{"rendered":"Search warrant included downstairs apartment where it was not evident in surveillance and police were otherwise reasonable"},"content":{"rendered":"

Warrant for a particular address looking for defendant’s apartment was sufficiently particular to include his basement apartment. The police investigated and were not able to determine that this was a multiunit dwelling. When arrived, they found out that there was a back door entrance to the apartment, and they entered it. There was no misconduct on the police and they acted reasonably. The court analogized a case permitting a search of an attic apartment that was not known to exist until they were inside. United States v. Mousli<\/a>, 511 F.3d 7 (1st Cir. 2007):<\/p>\n

Mousli argues that the search warrant obtained by the Somerville police lacked sufficient specificity because it did not identify his particular basement unit, but only listed 19 Orvis Road. Mousli relies on Ferreras in arguing that the authority granted by any warrant is limited to the specific places described in it, and thus, does not extend to additional or different places. See Ferreras<\/em>, 192 F.3d at 11. Mousli’s reliance is misplaced.<\/p>\n

In Ferreras, we found that an attic was, in effect, included in a search warrant for the second floor of that same building because it was connected to the second floor apartment, lacked an exit to the street, and was not equipped for “independent living.” Id.<\/em> Mousli concludes from Ferreras’s holding that because his basement apartment existed independently from the rest of the house, had an exit to the street, and was equipped for “independent living,” it could not have been included in the warrant that sought to search only “19 Orvis Road.” We disagree with Mousli and find the facts in Ferreras distinguishable here.<\/p>\n

In the present case, the police used all of the information reasonably available to them to secure as particularized a warrant as possible. The police made considerable efforts to gather as much information as possible to include in their affidavits and application for the warrant. The police drove by Mousli’s residence before securing the warrant. They did not know that 19 Orvis Road was a multi-unit dwelling. Townsend noted Mousli’s address on a package in his car as 19 Orvis Road, and police records indicated that Mousli’s address was 19 Orvis Road. Mousli had given 19 Orvis Road as his home address when he was arrested on a previous occasion. The Registry of Motor Vehicles listed 19 Orvis Road as Mousli’s address. While Mousli’s apartment did exist independently from the main residence at 19 Orvis Road, “[s]earch warrants and affidavits should be considered in a common sense manner, and hypertechnical readings should be avoided.” … Just as in United States v. Gilman<\/em>, 684 F.2d 616 (1st Cir. 1982), “[t]he testimony and affidavits of the officers demonstrate no misconduct on their part. Their surveillance of the premises … did not alert them to the multiunit character of the building. The officers were not aware that the building contained separate living quarters or that it housed unrelated persons.” Id.<\/em> at 618. We find that the police had a valid search warrant, supported by reasonable information, and that the valid search warrant gave the police the authority to search Mousli’s apartment. We conclude that the district court did not err when it denied Mousli’s motion to suppress.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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