TX5: Lack of a timely return doesn’t warrant suppression despite mandatory language of statute

A lack of return isn’t a basis for suppression. “Although the requirements set forth in this provision of the code of criminal procedure appears to be mandatory, courts have consistently held that ministerial violations of the search warrant statutes do not vitiate the search warrant in the absence of a showing of prejudice.” Also, a search warrant for taking blood includes testing, and the testing doesn’t need to be within the period for execution on the blood. State v. Stanton, 2021 Tex. App. LEXIS 2343 (Tex. App. – Dallas May 26, 2021).

“To the extent Movant claims he would not have pleaded guilty had his attorney advised him that he could have filed a motion to suppress evidence for lack of probable cause to support the search warrant for his apartment, his claim fails because he has not shown that the motion to suppress was meritorious, and that there was a reasonable probability that the outcome of his case would have been different.” Xiao Chen Lin v. United States, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 58634 (N.D. Tex. Mar. 4, 2021).*