Q: Police bust my house and search warrant was not signed by police or judge is this legal?
My daughters house was busted on 4/21/2011 alledging her with 25 other ppl of conspiracy to traffic in 28grams or more of pills.and unlawful use of a two-way device. they had no warrant and the warrant left at premises was not signed by the police nor judge. 13 ppl on case has been released without a nebia hold hearing,500-1000 on a 275,000 bond. my daughter has no priors , we plan to file abuse of process . my daughter gave this lawyer every document the motion of discovery the unsigned search warrant and other documentation to work in her favor there has been a communication breakdown between counsel and client. what do we do because we want this judge removed and this attorney-bias and involved in competetive enterprise we feel he want to try to cover his tracks thats why he want all 26 defendants before him. but i heard it was a conflict with the 893.135 statue with the word knowingly in conspiracy cases,
A:
You raise a number of issues in your question. First of all, only the Judge's signature needs to appear on the warrant. The police officer who provides probable cause must sign an affidavit establishing probable cause. That affidavit should be attached to the warrant. While the warrant left at the premises may not have been signed, your attorney needs to check the one which was later filed with the clerk's office to make sure it was in fact signed by the judge and identical to the one left at the residence.
A Nebbia hearing is held to insure that the funds used to secure bond were not obtained through illegal means. I cannot answer why some of your daughter's co-defendants were permitted to post bond without a Nebbia hearing.
I doubt that you can successfully have the judge removed from the case. It appears your larger problem is with your daughter's attorney. I detect a lack of communication here. Your daughter faces serious charges which carry a minimum mandatory prison sentence. Please discuss with her attorney immediately or seek other counsel.
Good Luck,
Robert Heyma, Esq.
www.heymanlawfirm.com
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