What about a search of my home or car?

Before entering your home, a law enforcement officer must knock and identify himself or herself and tell you that you are going to be arrested. If you refuse to open the door - or there is another good reason - the officer can break through a door or a window.

 

If the police have an arrest warrant, you should be allowed to see it. If they don't have it with them, you should be allowed to see it as soon as practically possible.

 

The police may search the area within your reach. If you are arrested outdoors, they may not search your home or car.

 

Resisting an arrest or detention is a crime. If you resist an arrest, you can be charged with a misdemeanor or felony in addition to the crime for which you are being arrested. If you resist, an officer can use force to overcome your resistance or prevent your escape. The officer can even use force if it appears you will use force to cause great bodily injury.

 

When can an officer conduct a search?

An officer always may make a search with either your consent, a search warrant, or with probable cause. You have a right, however, to see the warrant before the search begins.

 

When can an officer search you, your car, or your home without a warrant?

 

Body Searches: If you are arrested, an officer can search you - without a warrant -

for weapons, evidence, or illegal or stolen goods.

 

Home Searches: In emergencies, such as when an officer may be trying to prevent

someone from destroying evidence, your home can be searched without your consent

and without a warrant. If you are taken into custody from your home, an officer

without a warrant can search only the limited area in which you are arrested. Other

rooms - and even other parts of the same room - are off limits, unless the officer

believes that other suspects are in other rooms, or other separate parts of the same

room. While searching your home, an officer can seize evidence of any crime, such

as stolen property or drugs, which are in plain sight.

 

Car Searches: Your car and trunk can be searched without your consent or a warrant

if an officer has good reason to believe that it contains illegal or stolen goods or

evidence. If the police stop your car for any legal reason - such as a broken tail light -

they can take any illegal goods that are in plain view and arrest you.

 

If you, your home, or your car are searched illegally, a Judge might say that any evidence found during the search cannot be used against you in Court. If you or your lawyer, however, do not object to the evidence before trial, the Court might allow the evidence to be used. Even if the Judge does decide that the evidence cannot be used against you, that does not always mean that your case will be dismissed.