Gale Encyclopedia of American Law Volume 4 P54 fully illuminates today's leading cases, major statutes, legal terms and concepts, notable persons involved with the law, important documents and more. Legal issues are fully discussed in easy-to-understand language, including such high-profile topics as the Americans with Disabilities Act, capital punishment, domestic violence, gay and lesbian rights, physician-assisted suicide and thousands more. | FOURTH AMENDMENT 519 any knowingly or intentionally false statements or statements made in reckless disregard forthe truth Franks v. Delaware 438 . 154 98 S. Ct. 2674 57 L. Ed. 2d 667 1978 . Inaccuracies due to negligence or innocent omission do not jeopardize a warrant s validity. The magistrate before whom an officer applies for a warrant must be neutral and detached Coolidge v. New Hampshire 403 . 443 91 S. Ct. 2022 29 L. Ed. 2d 564 1971 . This means that the magistrate must be impartial and not a member of the competitive enterprise of law enforcement California v. Acevedo 500 . 565 111 S. Ct. 1982 114 L. Ed. 2d 619 1991 . Thus police officers prosecutors and attorneys general are disqualified from the role of magistrate. However judges lawyers and court clerks all potentially qualify as neutral and detached and therefore may become magistrates. The requirements that states set for becoming a magistrate vary widely from having an attorney s license to having a high-school diploma to simply being literate. Defective Warrants If a search is performed pursuant to a defective warrant any evidence obtained as a result of the search is usually suppressed. An exception to this rule arises when an officer has obtained evidence pursuant to a defective warrant that the officer relied on in good faith United States v. Leon 468 . 897 104 S. Ct. 3430 82 L. Ed. 2d 677 1984 . For this exception to apply the warrant must have been issued by a magistrate and then later ruled defective for a valid reason and the defect must not have been the result of willful police deception. If these two requirements are satisfied law enforcement was entitled to rely on the warrant in conducting the search and any evidence obtained during the search is admissible against the defendant. This exception was created to ensure that police officers would not be punished for blunders made by magistrates when issuing search warrants. Again the primary reason courts suppress illegally .
