Free The 4th Amendment and Search Warrants FAQs | Free The 4th Amendment and Search Warrants Legal FAQs

What Is A Search Warrant?

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 21:40:25 GMT

A search warrant is an order issued by a judge that authorizes police officers to conduct a search of a specific location. Before a search warrant may be issued, there must be a showing of probable cause.

What Is Probable Cause?

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 21:40:27 GMT

This is a difficult one. There is not a bright-line rule establishing precisely what is and what is not probable cause. However, what has become apparent is that a finding of probable cause requires objective facts indicating a likelihood of criminal activity. A police officer’s hunch, with nothing more, will not satisfy the requirements.

Example: Officer Doright observes Tom and Dick walking down the street. Officer Doright has a hunch that Tom and Dick are up to no good. Armed with nothing more, Officer Doright goes to the local judge and attempts to get a search warrant for the boy’s home. Should a judge grant the warrant? No. A police officer’s hunch, with nothing more, will not satisfy the probable cause requirement. However, if Officer Doright observed Tom and Dick conduct a drug deal, then probable cause would likely exist for a warrant to search their home.

What If I Agree To The Search?

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 21:40:28 GMT

If you voluntarily consent to a search of your home, automobile, or person, than the officer can conduct a full search without a warrant. Anything that the officer finds can later be used against you in court.

If A Police Officer Knocks On My Door And Asks To Search My Home, Do I Have To Let The Officer In?

Thu, 27 Dec 2007 20:30:50 GMT

Unless the officer has a warrant, you are under no legal obligation to let the officer search your residence.

What Is The Plain View Doctrine?

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 21:40:29 GMT

Police officers do not need a warrant to seize contraband that is in plain view if the officer is in a place that he or she has a right to be.

EXAMPLE: Officer Doright is standing in your doorway talking to you about the weather. While talking, Officer Doright notices a bag of cocaine and a sawed-off shotgun on your couch. Officer Doright can legally seize these items without a search warrant because they are in plain view.

What Is The Fourth Amendment?

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 21:40:30 GMT

The fourth amendment is a constitutional amendment that protects individuals in the United States from unreasonable searches and seizures. The amendment states as follows: The right of people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the person or things to be seized.

Does The Fourth Amendment Protect All Searches?

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:13:15 GMT

No. Before a court will even entertain the possibility that the search in question was unreasonable, the person being searched must have had a legitimate expectation of privacy. To determine whether the defendant had a legitimate expectation of privacy the courts will look at the following factors: (1) did the person subjectively or actually expect some degree of privacy, and (2) is the person’s expectation objectively reasonable, that is, one that society is willing to recognize?

EXAMPLE #1

The police install a hidden video camera in the shower area of a local fitness club. Most people who use the shower in their fitness club have a subjective expectation of privacy. Privacy in a shower area is an expectation that society is willing to recognize. Therefore, the installation of a hidden camera by the police in a fitness club’s shower area will be considered a search and subject to the Fourth Amendment’s requirement of reasonableness.

EXAMPLE #2

While John is making a telephone call in a glass enclosed phone booth; he places a bag of cocaine on top of the phone. A police officer walking by notices the bag and arrests John for possession of a controlled substance. At trial, John tries to argue that the search of the phone booth was unreasonable because the officer lacked a warrant. This argument will fail because the court will never even get to the reasonableness of the search.

When police find a bag of cocaine on the top of a phone in a phone booth, it is not a search for Fourth Amendment purposes. It is very unlikely that John would think that a public phone booth is a private place, and even if John did, society is not willing to extend the protections of privacy to public pay phones.

What Is A Plea Bargain?

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 21:40:32 GMT

A plea bargain is an agreement in which the prosecutor and defendant arrange to settle the criminal case against the defendant. The defendant pleads guilty or no contest to the charges in exchange for some agreement from the prosecutor as to the sentencing. In some cases the prosecutor will agree to charge a lesser crime or dismiss some of the charges against the defendant in exchange for a guilty plea. The vast majority of criminal cases are resolved by plea bargains.

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