Search and Seizure Law
Should Police Need a Warrant to Fly a Drone Over Your House?
Generally, the 4th Amendment requires police to get a warrant to avoid an illegal search. However, the 4th Amendment as it applies to drones is a new and unsettled area of the law. Currently, police do not need a warrant to fly a drone over your property for investigative purposes, but a new bill in California is proposing that law enforcement need obtain a warrant before conducting drone surveillance of…
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Access Denied: Courts Draw a Line Between Security and Self-Incrimination
Put yourself in this scenario for a moment: After a long day at work, you come home where you want nothing more than to just eat dinner, relax in front of the TV and get a good night’s sleep. Instead, you and your significant other end up in a fight and the neighbors call the police, who arrest you after an accusation that you tried to strangle your loved one.…
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Can Police Search Your Home if You Object While Not Being Present?
The protection against unreasonable search and seizures is established by the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Law enforcement must either have your express consent or a valid warrant authorized by a judge in order to lawfully search your home, person or property. Most people understand that if police officers knock on your door and request access to your home, you do not have to give your consent for…
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When Police Don’t Need a Warrant to Search You
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides you protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. Law enforcement must obtain a search warrant that is signed by a judge before entering your private property. The judge may only provide a search warrant if the police have shown: It is more likely than not that a crime has taken place; andItems connected to the crime are likely to be found in…
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Were My Fourth Amendment Rights Violated?
The Fourth Amendment protects individuals against unreasonable searches and seizures. However, Fourth Amendment protection applies only to unreasonable interaction between you and the police officer involved with a seizure of your person or your property. If the Fourth Amendment does apply in your case, it may be possible under California Penal Code 1538.5 to file a motion to "suppress evidence." Our experienced criminal defense lawyers at Wallin & Klarich can…
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Right to Privacy and Cell Phone Evidence
Today's so-called Smart Phones hold a great deal of information that has little relevance to phone calls. As such, some argue that police should be required to obtain a search warrant before inspecting the contents of a cell phone. They submit that obtaining evidence from cell phones without a warrant amounts to a violation of the Fourth Amendment protection against illegal search and seizure. Our forefathers lived in a time…
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New Law Allows Prison Officials to Search Property Left in a Locker Without a Warrant
The Court of Appeals in Los Angeles has just ruled that a visitor to an inmate has no expectation of privacy in any item that they may place in a jail or prison locker. On September 29. 2011 the court ruled in People vs. Boulter that if you decide to place any item in a locker in a prison or jail facility it is subject to search and seizure without…
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Street encounters with police occur with varying degrees of coercion. An encounter with police is best understood by breaking it down into three categories:
(1) Where a citizen feels "free to leave" and terminate the encounter at will. Here, there has been no "detention" under the law. This falls outside the scope of Fourth Amendment protections prohibiting unreasonable searches and seizures of a person, their home, papers, and effects; (2) Brief "seizures", which triggers Fourth Amendment protections and also allows police more authority if acting with reasonable, specific, and articulable suspicion; (3) Arrests. An…
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Police Can Legally Stop a Vehicle in California Even If a Temporary Operating Permit Attached To a Rear Window
The California appellate court has held that even though a vehicle does in fact have a temporary operating permit displayed somewhere on the vehicle, if the police officer does not see the temporary operating permit, and the vehicle does not have license plates, then the stop of the vehicle is legal. People v. Dotson ﴾3rd Dist., Nov. 30, 2009﴿ 2009 Cal. App. LEXIS 1904﴿. In Dotson, the defendant, a convicted…
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Police Entry into Residence Without a Warrant – What is the “Emergency Exception” to the Warrant Requirement? (Part 2)
In general, police must have a warrant before entering a residence. Of course, certain exceptions apply to the general rule which requires a warrant before entry. One such exception is known as the, "emergency exception." The emergency exception is often used by police and prosecutors to justify a warrantless entry. Hiring a Riverside criminal defense attorney who can identify all constitutional violations by the police may mean the difference between…
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