Opinion ID: 2635349
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Transcript of a telephonic warrant application

Text: Zueger also argued that the warrant to search her home was invalid because it failed to comply with another statutory requirement: that a transcript of the warrant application be prepared. In addition to requiring a magistrate judge to designate a signatory to a warrant in her stead, I.C. § 19-4406 further provides that such verbal authorization shall be recorded and transcribed. At the time of the hearing on the motion to suppress, no transcript of the warrant application had yet been transcribed, though its preparation had been ordered by the district court. Although the trial judge did not rely on the absence of the transcript in his written order on the motion to suppress, he did mention the transcript's absence in concluding at the hearing that the warrant was fatally defective. The State made an audio recording of the application for a warrant to search Zueger's home at the time the application was made. Days after Zueger filed her motion to suppress, the State moved to have the audio tape of the warrant application transcribed. Moreover, the State apparently made available to Zueger the audio tape itself by the time of the hearing on her motion to suppress. Zueger's case is distinguishable from State v. Zielinski, 119 Idaho 316, 805 P.2d 1240 (1991). In Zielinski, we upheld a magistrate judge's dismissal of a criminal complaint where there was no record of the detective's testimony given in support of the application for the search warrant. No record of the warrant application, whether audio or transcribed, existed in Zielinski. In Zueger's case, however, a record was made of the oral affidavit of the officer presented in support of the search warrant. In contrast to Zielinski, the lack of the transcript at the time of the hearing in this case speaks not to error on the part of the State, but rather is simply a function of a delay in preparing the transcript. Under the circumstances, the judge should have accommodated the preparation of the transcript before making any determination about the validity of the warrant. Since this matter is being remanded, Zueger will have the opportunity to challenge the magistrate judge's determination of probable cause, if she chooses to do so, and the State will have an opportunity to respond.