New way to beat a search warrant

The Illinois Supreme Court has now expanded the ways in which a Defendant can challenge the issuance of a search warrant and beat the case. In many situations the police ask a judge for a search warrant based on what an informant has told them. In some situations the informant actually appears before a judge to tell his own story. In the past, a person could challenge the issuance of a search warrant if the police misrepresented the information provided by the informant or if the informant was shown to be untruthful. In People of The State of Illinois v. Terrill Chambers, 2016 IL 117911, the Illinois Supreme Court decided that the issuance of the search warrant can be successfully challenged if the informant disavows his earlier testimony that led to the issuance of the warrant, even if that person was in court when the warrant was issued. In this case, the informant testified after the warrant had been issued and executed that his earlier testimony had been coerced by the police.

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