Quote:
Originally Posted by John_W
Carl, as a former law enforcement officer and you seem to be following this story closely. I've been out all afternoon, but before I left about noon I was watching CNN and one of their reporters was going into the terrorist apartment. They said it was released by the FBI and the landlord had given CNN permission first to enter.
The reporter was making note of the many items spread out on the bed that apparently the FBI had looked over. What was somewhat puzzling was the CNN studio expert said he is surprised there is no fingerprint powder anywhere in the place. They scanned the camera around and it didn't appear to have been dusted. He said he was shocked, because they should want to know who else had been there. Also, he was surprised it had been released back to the landlord so quickly, he said normally they will pay the rent and keep the place as long as it's needed in case they need to return, if and when new information comes to light. What's your take on all of this? Any other experts hear anything else?
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I believe that the Search Warrant on the house was served by the FBI. I'm sure they sent in several Crime Scene Technicians to facilitate getting the search completed more quickly. I'm confident that they were quite thorough.
At the point where they executed the Search Warrant "Return" which lists the evidence items seized, they released the location back to the owner. This is customary.
A significant issue is the "probable cause" for the search warrant. It was probably to obtain evidence that the suspects who were killed in the police chase were the residents of the house and had the means to commit the crime of murder. That doesn't mean that they can search for "just anything," but rather for evidence that links the suspects to the crime of murder that they were "suspected" of having committed. Remember that at this early stage no one was willing to use the word "terrorist."
The items on the bed that the searchers had "apparently looked over" must not have had value related to the investigation. Since it was not a terrorist investigation, there were limits on how thorough the search could be.
The "strange men" who came on the property went to the garage, where much of the bomb material was found. Perhaps that area was dusted for fingerprints.
The media is full of "experts" who frequently talk through their hats. These are also the people who don't seem to know the difference between "automatic" firearms and "semi-automatic" firearms, or the difference between "clips" and "magazines." That doesn't keep them from spouting off.
Having said all that, the family of the deceased might have a good civil lawsuit against the owner of the property for allowing the press into the house if the rent was still paid up to date, violating the privacy of the six-month old child and the mother of the shooter, who also resided in the house.