State of Mississippi, ex rel. Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics v. Bobby Ray Canada and Beverly Turman

Summary

The Supreme Court of Mississippi affirmed summary judgment for Bobby Ray Canada and Beverly Turman in a civil forfeiture action involving money and other property seized during a search. The court held that the search warrant was facially void because the section identifying the place to be searched was completely blank, and incorporation by reference did not cure the defect. The court also held that the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule did not apply.

Holdings

1. The State failed to meet its duty to provide a sufficient appellate record because the affidavit and underlying facts-and-circumstances sheet on which its warrant-validity argument depended were absent from the record; the Court therefore could not consider that assignment of error on the incomplete record.
2. A search warrant whose section identifying the place to be searched is completely blank is invalid and unenforceable on its face. Incorporation by reference cannot cure the defect where the supporting documents were not attached to the warrant at execution and the warrant did not clearly incorporate them by reference.
3. The good-faith exception does not apply when the search warrant has a completely blank section identifying the place to be searched because the warrant is so facially defective that executing officers cannot reasonably presume it to be valid.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the State failed to provide a sufficient appellate record to support its challenge to summary judgment.
2. Whether a search warrant with a completely blank section identifying the place to be searched was valid and enforceable through incorporation by reference of a sealed affidavit or underlying facts-and-circumstances sheet.
3. Whether the Leon good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule applied to the facially defective warrant.

Disposition

affirmed