Robb, J.
Police encountered Edward Taylor passed out behind the wheel of his running car. Suspecting he was intoxicated, they sought a search warrant for a blood draw. Because of statutory time constraints on conducting a chemical test, a photograph of the signed search warrant was sent by email to an officer’s cell phone. Taylor objected to the blood draw because the officer was unable to show him a physical copy of the search warrant and struggled with the officer before finally complying. After Taylor was charged with battery, resisting law enforcement, driving while suspended, and operating a vehicle while intoxicated, he filed a motion to suppress the blood draw evidence. The trial court denied the motion but certified its order for this interlocutory appeal in which Taylor raises the sole issue of whether the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress. …
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Taylor’s only objection is that Sergeant Brahaum did not have a physical piece of paper to show him when he asked to see it; he does not claim that the affidavit and search warrant were not properly retained. A photograph or PDF of a search warrant transmitted via email is as valid and effective as a paper copy. See Smith v. State, 311 P.3d 132, 140 (Wyo. 2013) … Recorded sworn testimony, which if preserved, and from which a transcript may be produced, is as much a ‘writing’ in today’s world as was a quill-penned line on a piece of parchment two centuries ago. To conclude otherwise would ignore today’s technological realities, and would place form over substance.”. That Sergeant Brahaum had only an electronic copy of the search warrant at the time of the blood draw did not violate Taylor’s rights because the search warrant was otherwise valid.
The trial court did not err in denying Taylor’s motion to suppress evidence because the evidence was obtained via a valid search warrant despite the fact the officer had in hand only an electronic copy at the time of the search. The trial court’s order is therefore affirmed.
Kirsch, J., and Barnes, J., concur.