Returns and Inventories for Computer Search Warrants

More and more criminal investigations involve searches of computers and other digital devices. It is sometimes difficult to apply long-established search and seizure law to the practical realities of digital investigations. One example of this phenomenon concerns the preparation of the return and the inventory after the execution of a search warrant,  a topic of persistent confusion among law enforcement officers and others. The return and inventory requirements. Under G.S. 15A-257, an officer who executes a search warrant must return the warrant to the clerk without unnecessary delay. The return normally is indicated on the warrant itself. (The AOC search warrant form is AOC-CR-119.) The officer must also provide the clerk with “a written inventory of the items seized,” G.S. 15A-257, and a list of the items seized must likewise be provided to the person from whom they were taken, G.S. 15A-254. Form AOC-CR-206 may be used for creating an inventory. How do these requirements apply to computer searches? With computer searches, a timing issue frequently arises. Suppose that a warrant authorizes officers to search a defendant’s home and computer for evidence of a crime, and further allows the officers to conduct the computer search off-site. The search of the home and the seizure of the computer typically will take place shortly after the issuance of the warrant, but the search of the computer may not take place until days or weeks later. (The propriety of a forensic analysis outside the 48-hour window is a topic for another time, but the [...]