Ramirez

We consider whether and under what circumstances law enforcement officers who execute a search pursuant to a defective warrant enjoy qualified immunity.

I

Agent Jeff Groh of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (“BATF”) received two reports that the Ramirezes kept an automatic rifle, a rocket launcher, a grenade launcher and grenades on their ranch in western Montana. Groh prepared an application for a search warrant and supporting affidavit, and presented them to a magistrate judge who issued the warrant. The application properly described both the place to be searched and the objects sought. However, the warrant itself omitted the latter information entirely: In the space provided to list the items to be seized, Groh mistakenly typed a description of the Ramirez home.

*988 Groh led BATF agents and members of the county sheriffs department, including Sheriff John McPherson and Undersheriff Joe Lee, in the execution of the warrant. When the officers entered the Ramirez home, only Mrs. Ramirez was present. Groh told her they had a search warrant and were there “because somebody called and said you have an explosive device in a box.” The officers found no illegal weapons…