Walk It Through: The Knock
A warrant that describes what it seeks, ten days to execute it, a return to the judge, and release at the first appearance.
Officers knock at an apartment early one morning and say they have a search warrant.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One apartment and one arrest. Offenses that are not bailable, the danger provision, and municipal cases are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Search warrantA warrant identifying what is to be searched for and the place to be searched in enough detail that the officer can readily tell what and whom, executed only by a peace officer.
- Held by warrantWhat keeps a person arrested without a warrant in custody past twenty four hours: a charge by the oath of a credible person, and a warrant to answer it.
- Personal recognizanceRelease pending trial on the person's own promise to appear, which a judge may order at the first appearance on a bailable offense.