If you allow law enforcement in your home without a search warrant can they move or search anywhere?

Answer 1

HELL YA!!! Don't ever do that, they may be searching for one thing and you let them and find something else illegal and your busted even if it's not yours. Never do that, NEVER!!!!!!!

Answer 2

Until you tell them to stop. Once you tell them in they can search until you stop them.

However, if they are looking for a specific item, let say this is the case of the stolen computer. They can only look in places that could contain a computer. They would not be allowed to open a notebook sitting on the table. But anything that is open view in areas they could search would be fair game.

And search and seizure laws vary greatly state to state. New York, for instance, your vehicle cannot be serahced unless you were in your vehicle, and then only the areas in the vehicle that are in arms reach of the occupants can be searched. If the car is seized, i.e, you were drunk driving, the police can do an inventory search so that the defendant cannot say, my 20k dollar necklace is missing...it was there before the cops stopped me, now it is gone!

And in certain situations the police can enter homes without warrants. They are known as exigent circumstances. I.e. a wanted person just ran into your home, they hear screams from your home, if they do not enter right then and there the evidence will be destroyed. Of course, a heraing will determine if these circumstances were reasonable, but they do exists.

Answer 3

Yes. If you give them consent to search, they can search anywhere, BUT if you tell them to cease the search, they must stop.

Exceptions:
1)"Plain View" If the officer is legitimately there, and sees an illegal item, he may seize it.
2) If the officer makes an arrest, the law allows him to search the immediate area (area within reasonable reach/access by suspect).
3) If the officer has a legitimate reason to believe that a person is in danger he may conduct a search. Police use caution here because if in fact no one was in danger, any evidence found will almost certainly be contested on the grounds that the reason for search was not legitimate.

Answer 4

If you allow officers in your house WITH the knowledge they intend to search, yes they can until you say stop. If they are coming in to just talk then they cannot search anything except see what is in plain view. In either case without a warrant, you have to give consent - if you are in control of the residence at the time.

Answer 5

yes if you allow a consent search they can look anywhere, but remember you can tell them to stop at any time during the search! That's not to say they will not get a search warrant and come back to finish if the find a reason to.

Answer 6

The answer is not just yes. It depends on what the scope of your consent is. For instance, if the cops are looking for a person and say so, and you tell them to come on in, the assuption is that your consent is limited to just look for the person. The cops could look in every room where a person might be hiding. They cannot look in drawers. If you limit the cops on what they can look for or where they can look. That further limits their consent.

In another example, if the cops think you have drugs in your house, and you tell them they can have a look for drugs in your house, the cops can search every nook and cranny of your house looking for whereever drugs might be found.

The bottom line is that it depends on the circumstances of what and how the cops asked and how you limited or did not limit your consent.

Once they are inside and are legally in a place where they have authority and they see something in plain view that is immediately recognizable as illegal but has nothing to do with the search, they can sieze that item. For instance, if you let them in to search for someone and they see a line of Meth on the table of a room permissible for their search, the cops can sieze that meth and you can be charged for it.

Bottom Line: NEVER EVER CONSENT TO A SEARCH OF YOUR HOUSE. The 4th Amendment has been watered down in many ways. A cop can search your car without a warrant even if its parked somewhere and you are arrested some distance away from your car just because you were arrested. Cops can search your car without a warrant if they have probable cause that there is something in your car. Cops can look in the windows of your car and take out anything they see and, if they see anything illegal, can then search the rest of the car all without a warrant. Cops can search the interior of your car for weapons if they have some sketchy reason to believe that you might be dangerous. And if they happen to come across something else, they can sieze it. As such, drug case after drug case takes place in the car. And, in California, driving with drugs, even for just personal use, has consequences which are worse than merely possessing drugs for personal use. In fact, driving with meth for personal use carries 4 years as a maximum under California's Health and Safety Code section 11379, but possession for sales of meth (under HS 11378) only carries a 3 year maxium. Huh??? Driving with meth for personal use is worse than possession for sales? Yep, that's right.

However, case law has left one thing sacred: rour residence. Cops can't just come in. But in most cases, cops need a warrant. There are some exceptions like an emergency or when a crime is obviously taking place. But when things are relatively normal, cops need a warrant or your consent. Our Founding Fathers did not make it easy on the government. You shouldn't either.

Answer 7

Bad idea to let them in without a warrant. They have to tell you why the warrant is issued and what they're searching for.

Answer 8

Yes, if they see something in plain view then it is probably cause to search. Or in some states if the laws haven' changed they can if there is an issue with a minor childing on the premises.

Answer 9

yes, if you allow them to search they may search anywhere they want untill you tell them they have to stop

Answer 10

They can only search what is in plain view if they were invited in by someone.

Answer 11

Yes, it's a consent search.