ILLEGAL SEARCHES BY THE POLICE

ILLEGAL SEARCHES BY POLICE

Your case can get dismissed if the police searched you illegally. In most criminal cases, the first line of defense is challenging the legality of police actions. Did the police have probable cause to stop the person in the first place? Once the police stopped the person, did they have probable cause to search the person? Did they have probable cause to search the person’s belongings? The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution says that the police cannot search or seize people, their belongings, or their homes without probable cause. When the police violate a person’s Fourth Amendment rights, any evidence of criminal activity that the police received by an illegal search or seizure must be thrown out. If the defense is successful in getting the evidence thrown out by showing that the actions of the police were unconstitutional, the case can be dismissed.

To help you understand the Fourth Amendment and how to determine if your rights have been violated, I must define certain words in a legal context. Exactly what is a search? A search occurs when the government intrudes upon an area in which someone has a reasonable expectation of privacy. A person has a reasonable expectation of privacy in what is in their pockets, what is in their car, what is in their purse, what is in their backpack, what is in their house, etc. When the police look in these areas without probable cause, they are violating your Fourth Amendment rights. What is a seizure? A seizure occurs when the police stop or detain you for any length of time and you feel as though you are not free to leave. A seizure also occurs when the police confiscate your belongings. What is probable cause? Probable cause exists when it is reasonable to believe that it is more likely than not that a crimes has been or is being committed.

If the police have violated your constitutional rights by conducting an illegal search or seizure, a criminal defense lawyer can get all of the evidence thrown out or “suppressed.” To do this, we file what is called a suppression motion. The motion includes all of the legal reasons as to why the evidence should be suppressed in your case. There will also be a suppression hearing, where we ask the police officers questions. The burden is on the prosecutor to show that the police acted lawfully. If they can’t, all of the evidence will be suppressed and your case will get dismissed.

I have drafted many suppression motions, both in California and in Washington. In addition, I have a deeper understanding of the law of search and seizure by working on appeals of felony convictions at the Washington Appellate Project. The U.S. Supreme Court has produced hundreds of cases involving search and seizure. These court decisions are fact specific and fact driven. A thorough knowledge of the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Fourth Amendment is necessary to effectively negotiate with the prosecutor for a dismissal or to file a suppression motion and present a winning argument to the judge to get the evidence excluded. If you think there’s no way to win your case, think about what a lawyer could do to get it dismissed by challenging the actions of the police. For more information, visit www.jegattorney.com.