I'm just thinking through the process of a search warrant ... first the police find the scene around 1:30. There's the usual review of the scene, contact next of kin and deal with the witnesses. Once that's all squared away then they have to call in the backup and forensics, then they need to assess the possibilities and finally, contact the prosecutor's office. If this happened anytime between 4 and 5 on a Friday, the prosecutors would all be heading for drinks or whatever it is they do on a Friday night. There is always one senior (assistant chief crown) prosecutor (at least in this town) that is assigned to deal with these situations over the weekend. The police would call that person, tell them they need a warrant and then the prosecutor would have to head back to work with an assistant and write it up. All the details would have to be carefully double checked and, not sure, but in the case of a vehicle there may need to be specific locations where the warrant can be served. Any errors in the document, as we know, make the search invalid. After the document was carefully written and checked, then there has to be a Judge on call that would be pulled out of sleep to sign the document. I think it could take as long as 2 or 3 in the morning to serve the paperwork.
