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  1. #1
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    Jul 2009
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    Default Searching House

    My question involves police conduct in the State of: CA

    Heres a summary of the story. Someone was injured at the house & 911 was called. That person left and was picked up by EMT 5 blocks down. Cops come and ask if they can search to see if anyone else is hurt, I say no & before I know it the door was broken in because it was locked. They also broke down another door in the house which was locked. Was it legal for them to do it with no consent? If anything illegal was found could it be used in court even though they had no search warrent? Thanks

  2. #2

    Default Re: Searching House

    Depending on the circumstances of how and why someone was hurt, sure - it's possible to make the arguement that they needed to check for other potential victims (common in domestic violence cases, fights, etc.). In such cases, consent becomes a subordinate issue to the safety and life saving/protecting issue. Typically, if in the course of ensuring that no one else was injured they happened upon contraband, it'll be relatively easy to argue that it wasn't obtained via illegal search. Not each and every search requires a warrant, but if something was found in the course of a search for other injured parties, your attorney can certainly argue grounds for suppression.

  3. #3
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    Jan 2006
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    38,867

    Default Re: Searching House

    that would depend on their justification and to the evidence, upon the legality of the search.

    You provide very few details but expect a complete answer. Not going to happen.

  4. #4
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    Default Re: Searching House

    Quote Quoting jk
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    that would depend on their justification and to the evidence, upon the legality of the search.

    You provide very few details but expect a complete answer. Not going to happen.
    well what else do you need?

  5. #5

    Default Re: Searching House

    Who was injured? How? Why? What was said on the 911 call? What were the conditions, demeanors, words, and actions of everyone at the scene - in short, we'd need to know each and every sight, sound, smell, etc. that the officers on the scene experienced in order to make the call as to whether or not they had good reason.

    Only those specific officers can answer that question. Remember, it's not about what was REALLY happening, it's about what those officers REASONABLY BELIEVED was happening.

    Those are things for your attorney to explore. The bottom line being: if they were responding to an emergency call and happened across something that got you in trouble, odds are that yes, it'll count. A good attorney might get a different outcome, but only that attorney would be able to evaluate that based on the VERY specific facts of the case.

  6. #6
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    Jan 2006
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    Default Re: Searching House

    Quote Quoting visual88
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    well what else do you need?
    to start with, how was the person injured?

    If it involved another person, was that person holed up within the house?

    why would they ask if another person was injured?

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
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    3,835

    Default Re: Searching House

    Quote Quoting visual88
    View Post
    My question involves police conduct in the State of: CA

    Heres a summary of the story. Someone was injured at the house & 911 was called. That person left and was picked up by EMT 5 blocks down. Cops come and ask if they can search to see if anyone else is hurt, I say no & before I know it the door was broken in because it was locked. They also broke down another door in the house which was locked. Was it legal for them to do it with no consent? If anything illegal was found could it be used in court even though they had no search warrent? Thanks

    Searches conducted without a warrant are "presumptively" UNreasonable. To overcome this burden the government must demonstrate that one of the few exceptions existed, exigency/emergency.

    A 911 call is such, an emergency situation exists. The fact alone that you wish them to rely on your word that they are no longer needed does not necessarily negate the emergency.

    It was true here, but others may say everything inside is okay, as they can also be the perpertrator trying to evade the police.

    You have a point, yes, but, the police do also. I tend to side with them, although I was not there etc.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    California
    Posts
    20,594

    Default Re: Searching House

    Quote Quoting visual88
    View Post
    Heres a summary of the story. Someone was injured at the house & 911 was called. That person left and was picked up by EMT 5 blocks down. Cops come and ask if they can search to see if anyone else is hurt, I say no & before I know it the door was broken in because it was locked. They also broke down another door in the house which was locked. Was it legal for them to do it with no consent? If anything illegal was found could it be used in court even though they had no search warrent? Thanks
    If it appeared that the person they contacted was injured as a result of a fight? Sure! It's referred to as a public safety exception to the warrant requirement.

    Could an attorney try to suppress anything found? Sure, They could try. But, if the injured person's wounds were inflicted through violence, if he had come from the house, and especially if he indicated someone else might have been beaten, the cops had every right to force entry ... and they probably should have arrested you, too.

    Was anything illegal found?

    - Carl

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