Franks v. Delaware
United States Supreme Court
438 U.S. 154 (1978)
Franks (defendant), a criminal suspect, sought to challenge a warrant affidavit that claimed an officer had personally spoken with Franks's employers about his typical clothing; Franks wanted to call the employers and the affiant officer to testify that this statement was false. State law, as interpreted below, limited judicial review to the affidavit's face-value sufficiency and gave defendants no right to challenge its truthfulness; the trial court barred the challenge, and Delaware's courts affirmed.
Whether a search warrant must be voided and its fruits excluded when a defendant shows the supporting affidavit contains an intentional or reckless false statement, and the affidavit does not support probable cause once that statement is removed.