Is there any qualified immunity for officers who rely on approval given by an attorney and signed by a magistrate to obtain a facially invalid warrant?

We reject the conclusion of the district court that the officers are insulated by qualified immunity because of their reliance on the approval given by an attorney and the magistrate who signed the warrant. We recently noted in United States v. Kow, 58 F.3d 423 (9th Cir.1995), that the fact that a warrant was reviewed by two Assistant United States Attorneys and signed by a magistrate does not amount to "exceptional circumstances" on the basis of which a reasonable officer could rely on a facially invalid warrant. Id. at 428. We have held that "absent specific assurances from an impartial judge or magistrate that the defective warrant is valid despite its overbreadth, a reasonable reliance argument fails." Id. at 429. The officers applying for the warrant in this case did not ask for, nor did they receive any such specific assurances from the magistrate issuing the warrant. To the contrary, it appears that the magistrate may have been misled by the terms of the request set forth in the affidavit, and may not have noticed the conflict in the papers submitted to him. Accordingly, we hold that the officers who obtained the warrant authorizing searches of "any persons on the premises" are not entitled to qualified immunity for that conduct. ³³

Search of "Any Persons"