Kelley v. State

ON REHEARING

CATES, Presiding Judge.

Buying, etc., stolen goods: sentence, three years in the penitentiary.

Originally we affirmed the judgment below. However, in her application for rehearing appellant points out- — without contradiction by the State- — that the search warrants used to retrieve the stolen copper from her home were not signed by the municipal judge.

There is no common law authorizing search warrants. Statutes authorizing searches are strictly construed against the prosecution in favor of the liberty of the citizen. Commonwealth v. Monosson, 351 Mass. 327, 221 N.E.2d 220; 79…