California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Weitzer, 269 Cal.App.2d 274, 75 Cal.Rptr. 318 (Cal. App. 1969):
The facts that the officer had a duty to execute the warrant which appeared regular on its face, and that he is protected from civil liability in the event of a defect in the proceedings leading to its issuance does not render the arrest legal if the warrant was in fact improperly issued. If the arresting authorities had filed and proceeded on a complaint which failed to show reasonable cause for the issuance of a warrant, the invalidity of the warrant and the arrest predicated thereon would taint all subsequent proceedings and require the exclusion of evidence so obtained. (People v. Sesslin, supra, 68 A.C. 431, 439, 67 Cal.Rptr. 409, 439 P.2d 321.) On the other hand, where a search is based on an arrest predicated on probable cause but which, nevertheless, is erroneous because of a mistake of identity, the mistake will not vitiate the search attendant to the arrest.
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