my friend was driving and was pulled over by a bunch of narc officers. they were expecting the car to be driven by someone else. they were not pleased with their mistake (not getting the guy they wanted) and they proceeded to arrest her (possession of narc) and then drive her & her car back to her house (they got the address off her registration) and go into her house and turn it upside down searching for ???. They had no search warrant. Can they do this legally? My friend is in jail right now because of this. With an incredible amount of bail because they have charged her with charges an infomant told them they would get against the person they had expected to be driving the car.
2006-08-19 23:36:43 · 23 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Law Enforcement & Police
of course there was a pissed off informant. what does that have to do with the law and your rights and does an informant cancel out "illegal search and seizure"?
2006-08-19 23:52:56 · update #1
READ THE QUESTION. And understand the question. Some of you are either illiterate or just not reading my question because you rushed. YES SHE HAD DRUGS ON HER. Does this give the police the right to take her home and SEARCH HER HOUSE? Without a search warrant?
2006-08-20 00:00:54 · update #2
Something tells me that your story is a little incomplete. It is my understanding at least that the person who the police were after would have been under some sort of surveilance so that they would know when the right time to bust him would be, narc officers don't simply drive around looking for people to arrest. Secondly it would appear that your friend had some sort of association with the wanted guy or else she wouldn't be driving the car they suspected he would be in, that's your probable cause right there. Lastly I somehow doubt that the police would arrest the "obviously" wrong person and then proceed to carry out a search warrant, (which has to be signed by the way) on the same wrong person. I would imagine that your friend had something to do with the the guy they wanted and she got busted for it.
2006-08-20 01:16:04 · answer #1 · answered by edwoodisgood81 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Firstly, making a stop and search despite the mistake about the driver's identity is not a violation of civil liberties, because an informant apparently provided reasonable cause and a search incident to the stop would be justified on grounds of officer safety. Secondly, police have a right to conduct searches "incident to arrest" of the home and possessions of an arrested person if it is reasonably believed that additional evidence might be found relative to the matter for which the person was arrested, and no search warrant is required for this. There is no Constitutional question about the police conduct as you have described it. I wish you and your friend luck nevertheless.
2006-08-20 03:40:37 · answer #2 · answered by BoredBookworm 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unless you were 'there' you do not know all the facts of the case. And the only way your question can be answered is in the courts. If there was something illegal with the search or the arrest or the discovery of evidence, a defense attorney will be the first one to want to bring all that up in the best interest of his/her client. If there was a behavioral or procedural problem with the police who did all this, then that's what their departmental internal affairs is for.
You, as the non-defendant, legally have no standing in the case. You can presume and assume and hope the police violated all the search and seizure laws, and you can want your friend to be a victim of the system to such a degree that she is soon released, but the reality is...the court will make subsequent decisions based on the facts, not outside opinion and endorsement from a friend or family.
That's not what you want to hear and flame me if you wish but you'll discover in time that it wil all go in that judicial direction.
You can always find on Yahoo Answers plenty of people who know even less than you do, and will support your ideas completely. They will be staunchly right behind you and have their own stories to tell. But that does no good whatsoever for your friend...or even for you.
2006-08-20 03:05:52 · answer #3 · answered by nothing 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If they were narcotics officers there may have already been a warrant in effect; were the persons in the house automatically arrested? Then yes...there probably was a warrant. Do police need to stop and show you the search warrant and arrest warrant before they arrest you? No. It may be that there were others in house who where not home owners or renters, or that can be proven were in house deemed a "drug" house.
Now....if we dont know what transpired between your friend during the stop, how do you know that she wasnt mirandized, and offered to show them where narcotics where? Hey....it's possible that she flipped in order to avoid charges and is now working with them. was she under the influence at the time of the stop? If she is a crack or heroin user, how reliable is her memory or ability to tell you exactly what happened.
The bottom line is that there are 2 sides to every story. If you werent there, and your friend was arrested, im sure she has a problem with everything that happened. It's called projecting.
2006-08-20 01:37:29 · answer #4 · answered by lodicassells 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hmmmmm, I think there is another side of this story you do not know, or maybe you do not know all of the story. But, say, if they did what you said, well, no they cannot search her house without a search warrant. In fact, if she were to get an attorney, he would use this to get her out of jail. Without sufficient proof that she was who they were looking for, had any narcotics on her, or they cannot produce a search warrant, then she should not have to remain in jail, nor would she have big bail. I do not think that the Police would want to risk all of this, to just justify stopping someone they made a mistake, it was not that big of a mistake. They must had have the goods on her and you just do not know about it. Otherwise, just put on your "walking boots" and walk out of there, via an attorney. Good luck. I just don't buy that story, sorry.
2006-08-19 23:50:00 · answer #5 · answered by shardf 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Cops are cowboys, they can do anything they want. Their is a number of ways they can and will get around an illegal search. Ex: They could say that your friend either didn't have any ID or gave them an invalid ID, in which case based on their information they can assume her identity and then because she is driving a car linked to an address use any search warrants they have for who they were expecting to find to gain entry to that address. Your friend needs a really good lawyer.
2006-08-20 05:42:52 · answer #6 · answered by Garo88 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, the only way you can legally search a house is with a warrant. If they had chased her into the house then it is a little different, but still you cant do an extensive search. Anything found in that search will not hold up in court.
2006-08-20 05:22:11 · answer #7 · answered by Brad 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
since she had drugs on her at the time of the arrest the police had a right to search the area, her wingspan of the car,
as to searching the house they would have needed a search warrant or consent from some one living in the home, anything found in the house should be suppressed , if no drugs where found then your friend should press to file a civil rights violations
2006-08-20 02:14:31 · answer #8 · answered by goz1111 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think if they had probable cause to believe there were drugs in the car, then the search was legal. It sounds like they did find some, or she wouldn't be in jail. It's a matter of running with the wrong people. You get involved and go down with them when they get in trouble.
2006-08-19 23:46:18 · answer #9 · answered by upallnight 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Without a search warrant they can't search the house. My advice would be to act quickly before they manage to cover up their breach of the law.
2006-08-20 00:30:36 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋