Issuance of Search Warrants by Video Conference

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Criminal Procedure
  4. Searches and Seizures
  5. Searches With Warrants
  6. Issuance of Search Warrants by Video Conference

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  1. A judge of any court in this state authorized to issue search warrants pursuant to Code Section 17-5-21 may, as an alternative to other laws relating to the issuance of search warrants, conduct such applications for the issuance of search warrants by video conference. The issuance of a search warrant by video conference shall be valid irrespective of the physical location of the judge at the time of the video conference, provided that the judge issuing the warrant is authorized by law to issue such warrant, and, at the time such warrant is issued, he or she is physically located within this state.
  2. Search warrant applications heard by video conference shall be conducted in a manner to ensure that the judge conducting the hearing has visual and audible contact with all affiants and witnesses giving testimony.
  3. The affiant participating in a search warrant application by video conference shall sign the affidavit for a search warrant and any related documents by any reasonable means which identifies the affiant, including, but not limited to, his or her typewritten name, signature affixed by electronic stylus, or any other reasonable means which identifies the person signing the affidavit and any related documents. The judge participating in a search warrant application by video conference shall sign the affidavit for a search warrant, the search warrant, and any related documents by any reasonable means which identifies the judge, including, but not limited to, his or her typewritten name, signature affixed by electronic stylus, or any other reasonable means which identifies the judicial officer signing the affidavit and warrant and any related documents. Such applications shall be deemed to be written within the meaning of Code Section 17-5-21. Such authorization shall be deemed to comply with the issuance requirements provided for in Code Section 17-5-22.
  4. A judge hearing matters pursuant to this Code section shall administer an oath to any person testifying by means of a video conference.
  5. A video recording of the application hearing and any documents submitted in conjunction with the application shall be maintained as part of the record.

(Code 1981, §17-5-21.1, enacted by Ga. L. 2001, p. 300, § 1; Ga. L. 2013, p. 584, § 2/HB 146.)

Cross references.

- Issuance of arrest warrants by video conference, § 17-4-47.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Violation of state procedural rule vs. violation of federal procedural rule.

- Evidence seized from the defendant's apartment pursuant to a search warrant would not be suppressed because a violation of state procedural law did not rise to the level of a Fourth Amendment violation, and there was no Fourth Amendment violation as police were in possession of a search warrant, signed by a judge and based on probable cause, at the time police seized evidence, and an affidavit provided ample probable cause for the search; even if the defendant could show that violation of a state procedural rule was analogous to a violation of a federal procedural rule for Fourth Amendment purposes, there was no evidence that the search might not have occurred if the video recording of an application hearing were maintained as part of the record in accordance with state rule. United States v. Gordon, F. Supp. 2d (N.D. Ga. Dec. 2, 2015).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

ALR.

- Constitutional and statutory validity of judicial videoconferencing, 115 A.L.R.5th 509.


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