Police developed probable cause to search an apartment for the presence of illegal recreational pharmaceuticals. They properly obtained a warrant that specifically described the apartment and the illegal drugs to be seized

Question

When police executed the search, they discovered the illegal drugs, but at about the same time, recognized that there were two separate, although ill-defined, apartments in the attic location. The search warrant only covered one apartment and police had accidentally entered an apartment for which no warrant existed and had seized illegal drugs from the wrong apartment. The police search of the wrong apartment
A) violated the principles of the Fourth Amendment because the police absolutely possessed neither probable cause nor a warrant for the ill-defined wrong apartment.
B) was lawful since a warrant is valid whenever a judicial official affixes his or her signature to a warrant.
C) cannot be justified under the facts of the case because they failed to specifically describe the location of the search on the warrant which lead to the search of the wrong apartment.
D) was lawful since the police conducted themselves properly in good faith and simply made a reasonable mistake due to the ambiguity of the boundary limits of each apartment.
E) was illegal since no probable cause existed to search the apartment whose existence was not known to the police.

Answer 1

D