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THE SEARCH WARRANT WHICH ALLOWED THE SEIZURE OF BUSINESS COMPUTERS, COMPUTER FILES AND BUSINESS DOCUMENTS WITH ONLY A DATE-RESTRICTION AMOUNTED TO A GENERAL WARRANT, THE SEIZED ITEMS SHOULD HAVE BEEN SUPPRESSED (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, over a dissent, determined the search warrant for business computers, computer files and documents amounted to a general warrant, and the items seized should have been suppressed. The warrant was procured by the Office of Attorney General (OAG) and targeted two realty companies which were alleged to have involvement in the illegal construction and demolition of a rent-stabilized building:

The search warrant … permitted the OAG to search and seize broad categories of items relating to 1578 Union Street Realty Corporation, Dream Home Realty, and a number of other businesses allegedly controlled by the defendant through which he had conducted real estate transactions. The items permitted to be searched and seized included: corporate documents; employment records, employee lists, and employment contracts; all calendar books, appointment books, and address books; all computers, computer hard drives, and computer files stored on other media; and all bank, tax and financial records. The warrant did not name or specify any particular crime or offense to which the search was related, and did not incorporate the affidavit by reference. * * *

… [O]ther than a date restriction covering a period of approximately five years, the warrant permitted the OAG to search and seize all computers, hard drives, and computer files stored on other devices, without any guidelines, parameters, or constraints on the type of items to be viewed and seized … . As has been observed by federal courts, where the property to be searched is computer files, “the particularity requirement assumes even greater importance” … since “[t]he potential for privacy violations occasioned by an unbridled exploratory search” of such files is “enormous” … .

Additionally, as to paper documents, the warrant merely identified generic classes of items, effectively permitting the OAG to search and seize virtually all conceivable documents that would be created in the course of operating a business … . People v Melamed, 2019 NY Slip Op 09295, Second Dept 12-24-19

 

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