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Miss. R. Crim. P. 4.1

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Rule 4.1 Persons or Things Subject to Search and Seizure

Part 4: Search Warrants

← Previous Rule 3.2: Contents of Arrest Warrant or Summons; Execution, Return Next → Rule 4.2: Warrant on Affidavit

Rule Text

A search warrant may be issued for any of the following:

(1) evidence of a crime;

(2) contraband, fruits of crime, or other things unlawfully possessed;

(3) thing(s) designed for use, intended for use, or which is being or has been used in committing a crime; and

(4) a person to be arrested, or who is unlawfully restrained.

Plain-English Summary (for reference only — not a substitute for the rule text above)

This summary is not the rule. The rule text controls.

This rule explains what a judge can allow police to search for and take when they issue a search warrant. It covers four main categories of items or people.

First, police can search for evidence connected to a crime. This means anything that helps prove a crime happened or shows who did it. Second, they can look for contraband, meaning items that are illegal to own, along with anything gained from criminal activity, like stolen money or property.

Third, the rule allows warrants for tools or items used to commit a crime. This could include weapons, equipment, or anything else connected to how the crime was carried out. Finally, a search warrant can also be used to find and arrest a specific person, or to rescue someone who is being held against their will.

In short, this rule gives police the legal basis to search for proof of a crime, illegal items, tools used in a crime, or people who need to be arrested or rescued. A judge must approve the warrant before police can act on any of these grounds.

Committee Notes

Comment Generally, Rule 4 protects the rights guaranteed by article 3, section 23, of the Mississippi Constitution (“The people shall be secure in their persons, houses, and possessions, from unreasonable seizure or search; and no warrant shall be issued without probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, specially designating the place to be searched and the person or thing to be seized.”). The Rule is broad enough to embrace the issuance of anticipatory search warrants; a warrant to search for things that are not within the jurisdiction when the warrant is issued, but that are expected to be within the jurisdiction when the search is conducted, is valid if it otherwise complies with the United States Constitution, the Mississippi Constitution, and Rule 4. See United States v. Grubbs, 547 U.S. 90, 126 S. Ct. 1494, 164 L. Ed. 2d 195 (2006).

Rule 4.1 describes the persons and/or things that may be seized with a lawfully-issued search warrant. Issuance of a search warrant to search for items of solely “evidential value” is authorized. Warden, Md. Penitentiary v. Haden, 387 U.S. 294, 300-01, 87 S. Ct. 1642, 1647, 18 L. Ed. 2d 782 (1967). Section

(b) (4) permits issuance of a warrant to search for a person under two circumstances: when there is probable cause to arrest that person or when that person is being unlawfully restrained. There may be instances in which a search warrant would be required to conduct a search in either of these circumstances. Even when a search warrant would not be required to enter a place to search for a person, a procedure for obtaining a warrant should be available so that law enforcement officers will be encouraged to resort to the preferred alternative of acquiring “an objective predetermination of probable cause.” Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 88 S. Ct. 507, 19 L. Ed. 2d 576 (1967).

← Previous Rule 3.2: Contents of Arrest Warrant or Summons; Execution, Return Next → Rule 4.2: Warrant on Affidavit