Pennsylvania Code › Title 234 - RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE › Chapter 2 - INVESTIGATIONS › Part A - Search Warrant › Rule 206 - Contents of Application for Search Warrant

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
Each application for a search warrant shall be supported by a
				  written affidavit signed and sworn to or affirmed before an issuing authority,
				  which affidavit shall:
(a) state the
				name and department, agency, or address of the affiant;
(b) identify specifically the items,
				property, or person to be searched for and seized;
(c) name or describe with particularity the
				person or place to be searched;
(d)
				identify the owner, occupant, or possessor of the place to be
				searched;
(e) specify or describe
				the crime which has been or is being committed;
(f) set forth specifically the facts and
				circumstances which form the basis for the affiant's conclusion that there is
				probable cause to believe that the items, property, or person identified are
				evidence or the fruit of a crime, or are contraband, or are expected to be
				otherwise unlawfully possessed or subject to seizure, and that these items or
				property are or are expected to be located on the particular person, or that
				these items, property, or persons are or are expected to be located at the
				particular place described;
(g) if
				a "nighttime" search is requested (
i.e.
, 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.),
				state additional reasonable cause for seeking permission to search in
				nighttime;
(h) when the attorney
				for the Commonwealth is requesting that the affidavit(s) be sealed pursuant to
				Rule 211, state the facts and circumstances which are alleged to establish good
				cause for the sealing of the affidavit(s); and
(i) a certification that the application
				complies with the provisions of the
Case Records Public Access Policy
				of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania
regarding confidential
				information and documents.
Comment:
For the contents of the search warrant, see Rule 205.
Subdivisions (b) and (f) reflect the provision of Rule 201(d)
				  that provides that a person may be the subject of a search warrant when the
				  person is also the subject of a bench or arrest warrant. In such circumstances,
				  the search warrant is to effectuate the arrest by permitting the search of a
				  premises other than the residence of the subject of the bench or arrest
				  warrant. The search warrant does not take the place of the underlying bench or
				  arrest warrant.
Subdivision (f) recognizes anticipatory search warrants. To
				  satisfy the requirements of subdivision (f) when the warrant being requested is
				  for a prospective event, the application for the search warrant also must
				  include a statement explaining how the affiant knows that the items to be
				  seized on a later occasion will be at the place specified.
See
				  Commonwealth v. Coleman
, 830 A.2d 554 (Pa. 2003);
Commonwealth
				  v. Glass
, 754 A.2d 655 (Pa. 2000).
When the attorney for the Commonwealth is requesting that the
				  search warrant affidavit be sealed, the affidavit in support of the search
				  warrant must set forth the facts and circumstances the attorney for the
				  Commonwealth alleges establish that there is good cause to seal the affidavit.
See also
Pa.R.Crim.P.211(B)(2). Pursuant to Rule 211(B)(1),
				  when the attorney for the Commonwealth requests that the search warrant
				  affidavit be sealed, the application for the search warrant must be made to a
				  judge of the court of common pleas or to an appellate court justice or judge,
				  who would be the issuing authority for purposes of this rule. For the
				  procedures for sealing search warrant affidavit, see Rule 211.
See Rule 113.1 regarding the
Case Records Public
				  Access Policy of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania
and the
				  requirements regarding filings and documents that contain confidential
				  information.