If the police want to search your house and you tell them to get a search warrant and then they still go in twice, claiming to have probable cause and then after they have entered the house apply for a search warrant what are the legalities of that? If they have probable cause why would they need a search warrant? Unless they decided to dig around your house first to see what they could find?
2007-10-09 05:32:40 · 10 answers · asked by Wesley O 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law Enforcement & Police
If the police have "probable cause" to enter a home they apply that information will filing for a search warrant.
One thing that many misunderstand is that the police may enter the home to "freeze" the scene until the warrant is obtained.
There would be fairly good probable cause for them to do just that. An example would be seeing something in "plain view." A precursory check for weapons in the immediate area of the suspects and a check for other inhabitants for officer safety is also allowed by law.
2007-10-09 05:39:01 · answer #1 · answered by KC V ™ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You didn't provide specifics, but I will give you an example. If the officer smells burning marijuana, and you can be seen smoking inside, it is not practical to get a warrant, as the evidence would be gone by the time it was signed. The law provides for the police to enter under "exigent circumstances", meaning in this case, destruction of evidence. Another exigent circumstance would be if they could hear a fight and felt some was getting hurt.
They can enter, do a safety sweep, then hold the occupants until a warrant is obtained.
2007-10-09 12:45:27 · answer #2 · answered by trooper3316 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Anyone who says this can't happen is a liar. I caught a case many years ago and no warrant has ever been found. No inventory has been found either. My gf & I were coming from another town and pulled into the store for a soda and everybody and their brother was approaching me and asking why the cops were at my house. I immediately jumped in the car and went there and blocked their car into my yard and jumped out and asked them WTF do you think you are doing? They stated that I was being arrested for some bogus charge and they were standing around grinning. This was a ROBBERY. There never was a warrant and there is a tort claim on file from day one. But with a gutless atty. it is hard to move forward with it. I have actually recovered 2 pu loads of my stuff already and there is still muvh more to be recovered. Ieven had 1 COWARD tell me that he could loan me something that actually belonged to me. These little PUNK A@S COWARDS use the stuff like a personal shopping mall. I even had them give me some items that didn't belong to me and they were pissed when I told them they would have to recover them from my atty's. office. Since the chief asked me for receipts for the things that they had stolen, my atty. did the same to them. OOPS!!! There have been many unanswered requests from my attorney to return my stuff and I have seen how funny they think this is. They did not find it so funny when I hit that cop in the forehead with a beer bottle and they could not and would not even try to do anything about it. I asked the chief how many stitches it took but he played stupid. I've already gotten the one cop out and now I only have 4 more cops to go, 1 judge and 1 lawyer. Anyone who profited from this BS is going to pay a heavy price for his sins. They've already seen what I am willing to do now they will see how well I can do it. And every cop that took from my possessions will pay the price also.
2007-10-10 15:24:32 · answer #3 · answered by pappyld04 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Probable cause gives them the strong reason to believe there are specific incriminating objects in your house that they determined can constitute a crime or that a crime has occurred. The probable cause can only allow them to look for those items or any crime that could have been caused by or with them.
A search warrant furthers their legal ability to search further into your residence (areas that wouldn't normally be able to contain of hold the original PC items) or areas that were not in your immediate control when they first entered, like cars in a garage or storage sheds behind the house or the back yard. It also usually covers areas that are being rented out by you to other tenants.
It is legal CYA in case they do find something of evidentiary value in a remote or far flung part of your residence or property.
2007-10-09 12:44:24 · answer #4 · answered by Charlie Fingers 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
There are exceptions to the requirement for a warrant...for instance, if something was in "plain sight" that was illegal from your doorway, they could enter...this might then give them probable cause to get a warrant to search other areas of your house.
2007-10-09 12:37:52 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
It could be totally legit. Once inside your house they might want a warrant for a roomate's room, a safe, or anything that they didn't have probably cause to search in the first place.
There are too many possibilities to be able to give you the real "why" answer.
2007-10-09 12:38:47 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Go to a lawyer 7 ask.
Did u ask what the cause was??
It cmeans they could only search so far without the warrant, & need a full 1 to search deeper.
Make sure the cops weren' just making up Prob cause, to get in. (if you're guilty, forget everything i said!)
2007-10-09 12:38:25 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Oh no.... probable cause does not work on private property. They have to get a search warrant. get a lawyer immediately
2007-10-09 12:36:16 · answer #8 · answered by Derek O 3 · 1⤊ 4⤋
If they search without a warrant, they cannot use anything they find as evidence.
2007-10-09 12:36:11 · answer #9 · answered by regerugged 7 · 0⤊ 4⤋
US police are corrupt, ignorant, rude, bully and brutal.
2007-10-09 12:49:12 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋