Is it right for a police officer to seize weapons illegally and then using them as evidence in court?

Question

Police officers that stop someone with probable cause during a routine stop and searching the car and finding out that this person has weapons but you don't have a search warrant to actually seize them but you do anyways and later use them in court as evidence illegally.

Answer 1

Anything that was seized illegally by the police CANNOT be used as evidence in court. The evidence is precluded by the Court.

Answer 2

If the police have probable cause to stop you, which can be any violation of law no matter how petty you believe it to be, or that there is a reasonable belief that you have committed or are about to commit a crime, or that you match a look out given for a crime or that you are leaving the area where a crime has been committed, then you have been lawfully stopped. If in the course of being lawfully stopped, a officer-deputy-trooper either has probable cause to search your vehicle (see above) or gets your consent and then recovers any weapon that is illegal in and of itself or is illegal for you to have in a motor vehicle then it would absolutely be seized as evidence and then used in a court proceeding against you. This is what law abiding citizens pay good money for law enforcement officers to do. Enough of them have been killed conducting traffic stops that the Supreme Court has given them great flexibility in searching the interior area of motor vehicles where weapons may be accessible. You should not confuse a home with a motor vehicle. Law enforcement also has great flexibility in searching motor vehicles because they are mobile in nature and evidence can easily be moved. Another point to consider is that when the Constitution was drawn up, there were no motor vehicles. The intrusion of privacy into your home is very much protected and is quite different then the expectations of privacy enjoyed when operating a vehicle on a public road. Happy Motoring! ;)

Answer 3

The question started out intelligent enough, even used words like "probable cause". If a cop has probable cause to search your car and they find weapons. They don't need a search warrant to seize weapons. They had probable cause. Of course, I need more information, like what was that probable cause but you probably don't want to give that up. And if it is being used against them in court then they were probably charged with carry a concealed weapon which is ILLEGAL and that is why the weapons were seized, which means the cop was within his LEGAL rights to do that because it was ILLEGAL!!!

Answer 4

It depends on the state you live in.

In some states your car is considered an extension of your home in which case a warrant OR consent is needed to search the car. If no consent is given and no warrant is issued and the car is searched, any such evidence is not valid in court under the ther terms defined in the Forth Ammendment Illegal Search and Seizure

However according to the Fourth Amendment a search may be conducted if one of the two conditions exist.

the police have probable cause to believe they can find evidence that you committed a crime, and a judge issues a search warrant, or

the particular circumstances justify the search without a warrant first being issued.


I find it concerning that so many people talk about living in the US the land of the free, yet so few know their rights as they exist to them.

Answer 5

I don't think they need a search warrant to seize weapons so probably there would be no legal problem on that score. Otherwise (to take an extreme case) you could have an atomic bomb in your car and they'd have to let you keep it, wouldn't they? After all, a bomb is a weapon ('of mass destruction', I believe it has been put).

But as for using such a weapon as evidence in court, well the question is -- what is the case about? You can only produce eveidence that has some relevance to the case.

It's a very complex issue...

Answer 6

Search and seizure rules are as such that you do not always need a search warrant to search.

If there was a legitimate stop, and there is probable cause to arrest, or to search the vehicle they will not need a search warrant.

But the short answer is if the search was not legal, i.e. it violates the principles set forth in Mapp v. Ohio, then the prosecution will be prohibited from using the fruits of that search, unless they fall into specific exceptions, i.e. inevitable discovery.

Answer 7

You stated he searched the car for probable cause, there's your legal search and seizure of a weapon. Did you give the officer your consent to search the car? Better hope not, as that would be your only chance of claiming it was illegal.

And the fact that the cop had probable cause to search the vehicle gives him every right to take any illegal items he finds. Was the gun registered? Loaded? Registered in your name? And banned/illegal firearm?

Give us some more detail on the events and we can predict a bit more whether you have a shot at fighting this.

Answer 8

Probable cause allows the police to search for, and seize any illegal object that they come across during the search.
The judge of the case has to rule upon the legality of the evidence presented to him, and can't admit illegally-obtained evidence.

Answer 9

If you are pulled over by a traffic stop, most states have an automatic right of search in place so the police officer can either (a) by asking you if it is okay to search the vehicle or (b) without needing to ask you search the vehicle.

Some states also have fast track electronic search warrants they can use. After pulling you over, if you record warrants it, or if they find the vehicle has been stolen or matches a vehicle used in a crime, they can get an automatic warrant electronically issued right to the vehicle in about 5 minutes, and then pull you out, handcuff you with a gun right in your face, and search the vehicle.

So is it legal? Odds are, yes it is legal. Blame the Republicans if you want to blame anyone. Or blame yourself if you dont vote.

Answer 10

A officer can search anywhere in the car around where the driver is sitting for "officer safety"

next they can search anywhere that is in plain sight, so if part of the gun is visable they can find it.

And of course if the person says they can search they can.

There are alot of reasons a legal search can be made without a warrant.

And it is up to the defense attorney to show it was immproperly gained evidence