Warrant

The classic MBE pattern hands you a warrantless search; the answer turns on whether one recognized exception fits, not on the warrant requirement itself. Once officers hold a warrant, the issue shifts to execution — knock-and-announce and scope limited to the particular description. They may detain occupants present during a residential search (Summers) but may not search persons merely present without individualized probable cause (Ybarra). A facially valid but defective warrant still saves the evidence under the good-faith rule (Leon) — unless it rested on a “bare bones” affidavit, the affiant lied, or the magistrate abandoned neutrality.

Do not conflate the concepts: a search needs justification only where privacy is reasonably expected; a seizure is graded by intrusion (a brief stop versus a full arrest). Remember the two probable-cause flavors: a search warrant needs PC that evidence is in the place now; an arrest warrant, PC that this person committed the crime. A public felony arrest needs no warrant (Watson) — only entering the home to arrest does (Payton).