Judge seals search warrant in Prince death probe
Updated 2:05 p.m. | Posted 11:55 a.m.
A Carver County judge has decided to seal a search warrant that authorized police to search Prince's studio complex.
The Carver County Sheriff's Office told the judge that it wanted to keep sealed the application to search Paisley Park.
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Sheriff Jim Olson said his office asked for the search warrant as a matter of routine legal process, and the applications typically include an affidavit explaining what investigators are looking for and why.
They're also required by state law to be returned to the court within 10 days, typically with a receipt and inventory of what investigators found and recovered as part of their investigation. That could show what aspects of Prince's death investigators were focusing on.
But an affidavit by Chief Deputy Jason Kamerud asked to keep the details secret, and a judge agreed, saying disclosure could impact other searches, put other people at risk or hamper the ongoing investigation into Prince's death.
The 57-year-old pop music icon was found collapsed and unresponsive last week in an elevator on the first floor of Paisley Park in Chanhassen. Attempts to revive him with CPR failed.
Authorities say Prince was alone when he died and his body showed no signs of violence or suicide. An autopsy was conducted but full results are not expected for several weeks.
Kamerud strongly disputed reports by several media outlets that investigators had asked the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration for help in the case.
"We have not asked them for help, or asked them to be a part of the investigation," Kamerud told the Associated Press.
"We might contact them to help us, but that hasn't happened," he said. "We don't have the medical examiner's report yet. We don't know to what extent pharmaceuticals could be a part of this."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.