California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Galland, 146 Cal.App.4th 277, 52 Cal.Rptr.3d 799 (Cal. App. 2006):
We question whether the parties' rights, the principles of effective appellate review, or the orderly administration of justice are served by an otherwise unnecessary authentification process simply because a law enforcement agency would prefer to maintain sealed warrants or warrant affidavits in its custody? We think not. As noted in Kaylor v. Superior Court (1980) 108 Cal. App.3d 451, 166 Cal.Rptr. 598, "We, as an appellate court, must look to the affidavits to determine sufficiency of the evidence, but such a review is based on the assumption ... that all affidavits were considered. [Citation.] The constitutional requirements, while placed on the magistrate because of the review nature of his or her role, also permits ready appellate review of the magistrate's action. Every item considered must be in writing. How may the trial court or we on appeal, other than by guesswork, determine whether the magistrate met the constitutional standard of reasonableness [citation], without a record which tells us what was considered and what was not?" (Id. at pp. 457-458, 166 Cal.Rptr. 598.)
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