Rogers v. Superior Court

Petitioners are charged in respondent court with multiple counts of receiving stolen property, in violation of section 496 of the Penal Code; petitioner Reese is also charged in one count with possession of heroin, in violation of section 11351 of the Health and Safety Code. The evidence on which those charges are based was obtained by a search of petitioner Roger’s residence, purportedly on the authority of a search war-' rant. The sufficiency of the warrant was duly attacked in the trial court by a motion made pursuant to section 1538.5 of the Penal Code. The motion was denied and petitioners sought review in this court under subdivision (i) of section 1538.5. We issued an alternative writ of prohibition. The matter has been briefed and argued. We direct the issuance of a peremptory writ of mandate.

The warrant was issued at about 11 p.m., on the evening of May 17, 1973; it was served at about 11:30 p.m., on that same evening. The magistrate who issued the warrant is blind and it was necessary for the persons applying for the warrant to read to him the affidavit in support of the application and the form of warrant. The warrant form is a mimeographed or Xeroxed form,…