Validity of Search Warrant

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Russell Taylor

Case No.: 22-1925

Officials: Rovner, Hamilton, and St. Eve, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Validity of Search Warrant

This direct criminal appeal presents an unusual question about the validity of a search warrant. The text of the warrant appears to have been altered by police officers to expand its scope, without any indication that the issuing judge approved the changes.

In the autumn of 2014, Indiana law enforcement began investigating appellant Russell Taylor for suspected child pornography and bestiality crimes. The primary source of incriminating information against Taylor was “Jane Doe,” a woman with whom Taylor and his wife were intimately involved. At relevant times, Doe was also intimately involved with two members of law enforcement, one active and one retired, who were involved in the investigation.

In April 2015, law enforcement presented a warrant application to a state-court judge. The warrant affidavit sought to search Taylor’s residence for evidence of both child pornography and bestiality. The affidavit did not disclose that two of the law enforcement officers involved in the investigation were or had been potentially competing with Taylor for Doe’s affections. The typed warrant did not mention bestiality. The lead detective in the case apparently made handwritten alterations to the warrant, adding “bestiality” to the scope.

The unusual problem in this case is that the crime for which the affidavit established probable cause—bestiality—is not the crime for which the typed text of the warrant authorized a search. The Seventh Circuit admits that it does not know whether the issuing judge approved law enforcement’s handwritten alterations to the warrant before it was executed. An evidentiary hearing is needed to figure out what happened.

Vacated and remanded.

Decided 03/24/23

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