SAN DIEGO — Imagine police officers show up at your home and want to search it. You might expect them to show you a search warrant authorizing the raid.
Instead, San Diego police officers are now handing homeowners redacted search warrants with the address of the home to be searched blocked out.
CBS 8 spoke to a legal expert who said the use of redacted search warrants in the field could violate the 4th Amendment, which guarantees the right of the people to be secure in their homes against unreasonable searches and seizures.
When SDPD officers and FBI agents raided several homes last month in San Diego County as part of Operation Mike Drop, they were looking for people with arrest warrants; like Greg Otis’ nephew, who lives in the family's home in Mountain View.
Otis said more than a dozen officers showed up in the early-morning hours with a loudspeaker, telling everyone in the house to come out with their hands up.
“I had to put my pants on and my wife came out with her nightgown on. They took us across the street and handcuffed us,” said Otis.
Officers did not find the nephew. And, Otis said, they did not show the couple a search warrant.
“My wife's 65 and I'm 68. What the hell we gonna do?” said Otis.
At a news conference days later, announcing the indictment of 22 people, Deputy District Attorney Miram Hemming said officers do not have to give homeowners a copy of the search warrant when homes are raided.
But at another home in Spring Valley, raided by police during the same operation, officers did leave a copy of the search warrant, after relatives demanded to see the paperwork.
The warrant was redacted with the address to be searched and items to be seized x-ed out. It was a state search warrant issued and sealed by San Diego County Superior Court Judge Frederick Maguire.
“My understanding is that those warrants were provided to the individuals that were at that location, albeit in a sealed fashion, and that is entirely lawful and consistent with what the judge's orders allow,” prosecutor Hemming said during last week’s news conference.
Under California law, officers do not have to leave a copy of the warrant at the home they are searching if no property is seized. If property is seized, the officers are required to "provide a copy of the written inventory of the property that was taken."
Under federal law, however, agents are required to give homeowners both "a copy of the warrant and a receipt for the property taken." The federal statute applies to search warrants issued by a federal judge or magistrate.
CBS 8 showed a copy of the redacted search warrant served in Spring Valley to veteran civil rights attorney, Eugene Iredale. He said he had never seen a search warrant with the location address and items to be seized redacted.
Moreover, Iredale said the redactions made no sense, because the address of the home – which was x-ed out in the search warrant -- was already being raided by the police at the time the warrant was given to the homeowner.
“We have the San Diego Police Department and the task forces saying, ‘Warrants? We don't need to show you no stinking warrants. We're the police!’” said Iredale.
While there is no California law requiring a copy of the search warrant be given to the homeowner, Iredale said, people have a constitutional right to see the un-redacted portion of the warrant authorizing officers to go inside a particular home.
“It ensures that the homeowner knows you can't resist. You're required to permit the search to take place because this is a lawful search with a specific piece of property to be searched and certain things to be searched for, and it's been approved by a judge,” said Iredale.
The San Diego County deputy district attorney said officers do retain a copy of the un-redacted warrant, so they know the correct address to search.
“Law enforcement is responsible in every instance, not just on this case but any other, in ensuring that the target of the search warrant is in fact the location that's specified within the warrant itself,” Hemming said.
For attorney Iredale, that's not enough.
“The homeowner’s ability to verify that this is, in fact, a regular and proper procedure has been completely taken away. Why? Because the police are acting with a certain arrogance and a certain idea that, well, just trust us. We wouldn't do anything wrong. And we don't have to show you a warrant,” said Iredale.
He said having a judge seal the warrant before the police raid does not trump the 4th Amendment.
“The name of the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized are not the only things that are x-ed out here. They've attempted to obliterate part of our constitution. And it's important that we say, you can't X that out,” said Iredale.
CBS 8 asked a spokesperson for the San Diego County District Attorney’s office to respond to the following questions:
- Approximately when did the City Attorney/DA start redacting the addresses to be searched and the items to be seized in warrants left at homes?
- Did this practice begin when the county transitioned to electronic search warrants?
- Why give the target (or homeowner) a warrant with the address x-ed out, if officers are already at the address and raiding the house? At that point, the address is already revealed, right?
- One purpose of handing the homeowner the search warrant is so the homeowner knows he/she should not resist law enforcement, and allow officers to enter the home. Doesn't redacting the address defeat that purpose?
- We interviewed an attorney who said these redacted search warrants violate the 4th Amendment. Do you have a response?
The DA’s office responded with the following statement:
"Law enforcement has been legally authorized to request sealing of all or part of a search warrant and affidavit since the 1994. This protects ongoing investigations, witnesses, victims, sources of information, the destruction of evidence and prevents information being leaked to suspects. These warrants were judicially approved. Each defendant will have an opportunity to challenge the warrants in court."
A spokesperson for SDPD previously email CBS the following statement:
"Redacted/sealed warrants DO NOT mean police can search any location they want. The information is simply redacted or sealed on that copy. Warrants are court orders issued and signed by a superior court judge."
WATCH RELATED: Prosecutor: Redacted search warrants 'entirely lawful' (Oct. 2022).