Reference no: EM133413951

You are serving a search warrant on a residence located at 123 Johnson Street because the owner of the residence is suspected of stealing an ATV from the Polaris dealership down the street. The surveillance video at Polaris showed the ATV was loaded onto a "Wilson" flatbed trailer. Your search warrant includes, the curtilage, the attached garage, the pole barn behind the house and a small garden shed in the back yard as areas you are legally allowed to search. The items you are searching for are the Polaris ATV and the Wilson flatbed trailer.

Upon arriving in the driveway, you observe something which appears to be a trailer with something on it, covered by a large tarp, next to the garage (officially it's in the yard of the next-door neighbor at 125 Johnson Street), but parked within feet of the suspect's garage (the garage is right on the boarder of the yard. Without moving the tarp, you determine the trailer is a Wilson trailer and through a hole in the tarp, you see the ATV matches the stolen Polaris ATV.

1. Can you take the tarp off the trailer and ATV to get a better look at the items? Why?

2. Are you going to search the rest of the suspect's property (garage, pole barn, shed and house) to complete the warrant? Why?

3. Do you need a new search warrant to take the stolen ATV and trailer? Why?

4. The key is not in the ATV, but you suspect it may be in the house. Can you search the house for the key even if it is not listed on your warrant?