Does a search warrant authorize the seizure of more than 1,000 photographs and personal letters pursuant to the search warrant?

In United States v. Whitten, 706 F.2d 1000 (9th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1100 (1984), agents seized more than 1,000 photographs and personal letters pursuant to a search warrant authorizing the seizure of items to establish the identity of persons in control of the premises. Although disapproving the seizure, the court held that the evidence seized need not be suppressed because the search did not show "flagrant disregard" for the terms of the warrant. Id. at 1010.

In Rettig, 589 F.2d at 421-23, by contrast, officers used a warrant to search for marijuana to search for evidence of a cocaine conspiracy, seizing roughly 2,400 items, mostly papers. The court held that the search conducted was not confined to the authorization provided by the warrant; as interpreted and executed, the warrant became an instrument for conducting a general search. Id. at 423; see also United States v. Mittelman, 999 F.2d 440, 444-45 (9th Cir.1993) (remanding for a determination whether the challenged search flagrantly disregarded the terms of the warrant and amounted to an impermissible general search).