GCO 1985-6

October 31, 1985

EXTRAORDINARY PROCEDURES FOR
ISSUANCE OF WARRANTS BY TELEPHONE

     It sometimes occurs that there is no resident judge or any judicial officer within a particular State available to issue warrants under Rule 41 of this Court's Rules of Criminal Procedure.

     This General Court Order is adopted, applicable to these circumstances only, for purposes of expediting the administration of justice in such a State until a judge or judicial officer becomes available there.

     Only for issuance in such a State of Warrants to be enforced within that State, Rule 41 of this Court's Rules of Criminal Procedure is amended to include the following subsection, as Rule 41(c)(2).

Rule 41(c)(2)
Warrant Upon Oral Authorization

     (A)  General Rule.  At times when no judicial officer is available within a State upon specific written or oral authorization by a Justice of the Supreme Court, this Court's Clerk of Courts or Justice in that State may issue a warrant based upon papers filed with the Federated States of Micronesia Supreme Court and satisfying all other requirements of this Rule 41, the contents of which are communicated by telephone or by other appropriate means to the authorizing Justice.  The following procedures shall be employed.

     (B)  Application.  The person who is requesting a warrant shall file with this Court in the State where no judicial officer is then available documents which that person believes satisfy all requirements of Rule 41, the together with documents showing unavailability of a judicial officer in the state.  This Court's Clerk of Court or Justice Ombudsman in that State shall then administer the oath for the affidavit(s) submitted to establish the grounds for the application.  Application for the warrant may then be made by use of either of the following methods:

1.  Telephone.  Upon request of the person asking for the warrant, the Clerk of Court or Justice Ombudsman shall promptly place a call to a Justice of the Supreme Court and the documents shall be read verbatim to the Justice.  This may be done in the presence of the person making application, and that person may participate in the telephone conversation, but the Clerk of Court or Justice Ombudsman must remain physically present throughout the telephone conversation and shall verify the accuracy of the reading of the documents.

2.  Submission of Documents.  A full duplicate original set of the documents may be forwarded to the Justice with written certification by the Clerk of Courts or Justice Ombudsman that the papers submitted are true and complete copies of the documents filed with the Court in Kosrae.

     (C)  Authorization.  If the Justice is satisfied that grounds for the application exist or that there is probable cause to believe that they exist, he shall authorize the Clerk of Courts or Justice Ombudsman to issue a warrant identifying the property or person to be seized, naming or describing the place to be searched, and indicating the period during which the warrant will remain in effect.  Before signing the warrant, the Clerk of Courts or Justice Ombudsman shall read the warrant to the Justice.  If the warrant is satisfactory, the Justice may authorize the Clerk or the Justice Ombudsman to sign it, whereupon the authorized person shall immediately sign the original warrant, and duplicate copy thereof and enter on the face of both documents the time when the warrant was ordered to be issued and the name of the authorizing Justice.

     (D)  Records.  Upon issuance of a warrant pursuant to this Rule, one copy of all documents involved shall be retained by the Clerk of Courts and duplicate copies of all documents shall immediately be forwarded to the authorizing Justice.

     This order supersedes and replaces General Court Order 1983-85.

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