Illegal Search and Seizure

I'll be willing to bet large sums of $$ that EVERYTHING boils down to whether the door was locked or unlocked.

I'm sure your friends facial reaction to the cop walking through the door would be worthy of a twix "wanna get away" commercial.

Winter Woman said:

Yes, it does here in Michigan. Around here there was a home divided into flats. Everyone were friends and they left their doors unlocked. The courts said that the interior doors left unlocked meant that the entire building became one unit.

Don't know what happened on appeal.

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a single unit because the doors weren't locked? that's absurd. now, if the building only had one power meter then i can see them considering it a single unit. the things that police are allowed to declare are hilarious.

as far as the op is concerned, i'm afraid that doesn't quite equal illegal search and seizure in most places. when the genius left the trail of fluid and a dented car in the driveway he invited the police to obtain an arrest warrant.

i don't know where you live, but around here the police cannot enter your house on a misdemeanor warrant, only a felony warrant. i have no idea what your local courts consider this type of hit and run. if it's a felony your buddy is screwed. they should have shown him the warrant when he got arrested.

In accidents where there is property damage but no personal injury, leaving the scene without providing information is considered a traffic infraction. The infraction could come with a fine of up to $250, a prison sentence of up to 15 days or both.

Read more: New York State Hit & Run Laws | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_6833654_new-hit-_amp_amp_-run-laws.html#ixzz1kgiSPFws

dude should have stuck around. id take 250 in fines over a bust of a pound of trimmings was it? and some bud. im still thinking he had bud in the car which is why he left. hope things work out for him and you. change your number though and ditch the phone if its a concern.

So if it was a simple trafic infraction then what was done to cause a warrant be put out for his arrest instead of simply putting some paperwork through his door telling him he's due at the station or inn court etc?

As per the previous posters, if his car simply slid on ice, why would he drive away when surely everyone knows it's a no-no to flee the scene. What was really done to obtain a warrant for his arrest?

Just reading, S923-2011


Class A misdemeanour's now instead of traffic infraction, or would a street sign not count as personal property?

Either way without more information the whole thing just seems fishy.

Edit: Nothing i'm reading even mentions the word "arrest" with regard to an incident of this nature. So as i said, i'm confused as to the reasonibg for them obtaining an arrest warrant.

Apparently he never went to his court date or paid his fine

Well surely that changes the reasoning behind the arrest entirely. He wasn't arrested for crashing his car and driving off, but for skipping court and as such sentencing. I don't know your laws on that side yet, but i'd be willing to bet it would be a different state of affairs to simple misdemeanour's for a road accident.

And surely if he skipped court, he'd be in contempt and this would be a bench warrant and not an arrest warrant?

HydroDawg421 said:

They had an arrest warrant. If they can prove they had reasonable suspicion that he was inside (car parked outside) they can enter the residence and anything found is admissible. a good high $$ lawyer could make an argument that the search was illegal but I think that's an uphill battle that won't be won.

And smelling marijuana is sufficient probable cause BTW.

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This. A warrant for someone in the car or dwelling here in MI, gives them probable cause to search as does the odor of marijuana. The warrant part I am fine with, whatever, but now that marijuana is no longer automatically illegal I have a problem with the odor giving them the right to search. Alcohol is legal for some and illegal for others, but you don't see laws allowing the cops to come in and search if they see it, just to be sure everyone is of age or whatnot. Now that we have medical laws they should give the same respect to marijuana (legally speaking) that they would give to pharmies or alcohol.
Anyway, good luck to your friend.

your friend was a fugitive. the police had every right to enter his home. looka like your friend is SOL

Balzac89 said:

The doors weren't locked, but that doesn't matter.

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if they have an arrest warrent for someone and the residence is in thier name they have the right to enter if they have suspicion that the suspect is still inside as long as its a court ordered arrest warrent. they broke the door down on my neigbors pad to get her ass at 7a.m. cuz of traffic warrents that eventually turned into arrest warrents. besides the only way they cant legaly enter is if the doors are completely locked and they dont have a warrent. once u have a warrent u pretty much relinquish all ur rights. its kinda like being on probation. lol. they can search anything they find u in or around. even if its not urs.

I hope for your sake Balz that he is a better friend to you than to the cops as they are offering him deals for a much lower sentence

Balzac89 you need to protect yourself.

I recommend that you consider encrypting your disk using something like this:
http://www.truecrypt.org/downloads

I also recommend that you create and memorize a password consisting of random numbers, letters & upper ascii characters. In order not to fall to a cold boot attack make sure every time you leave your computer it is completely off/shut down not in a sleep/hibernate state. If they come while you are on the computer pull the plug. Do not give it time for a graceful shutdown. Do not give them the password if they ask. Do not make the mistake of even turning the machine on in their presence. Instead ask for an attorney if they ask for the password or if they try the tricky way by asking you to simply 'show' them a file or something.

I would seriously consider moving to another state if marijuana is not a medical option where you are at. A pre-emptive move across a state line makes the cost of pursuit very high for local authorities, especially when they have nothing on you and are merely at the investigation phase.

Balzac89 said:

My threads have been cleaned of pics and my hard drive is only a few months old no pics on it.

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If you have the old drive around burn it. I think your friend's search was legit. He had a warrant out for his arrest. That means they can come after him. They found him at his house and everything else is incidental.

Balzac89 said:

Apparently he never went to his court date or paid his fine

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well he just fucked himself on that. when i first read it it sounded like the trail of fluid is what led to the warrant. now you say that there was a court date which he skipped. that's a whole other can of worms. at that point they weren't apprehending a traffic violator, they were apprehending a fugitive who is in contempt of court. very different.

I am assuming all this was done illegally? the growing that is.

Balzac89 said:

My threads have been cleaned of pics and my hard drive is only a few months old no pics on it.

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Might wanna change your avatar pic too bud!

I think you will find the Fed's are allowed to enter any property when in pursuit of a suspect or if they have a warrant for the arrest of a person believed to be inside a property , The cop could easily say he smelt the MJ before the entry , considering he had an illegal grow and didn't bother to keep a low profile , ie , driving away from an rta , the feds frown on this as often people left behind can be hurt and its normally the case that no-one else is around , my i suggest you choose your associates better as you seem the intelligent type

I don't think your friend could have shot himself in the head any harder short of penning a signed confession and delivering to the LEO in person.

Today's message is brought to you by the acronym OPSEC.

Balzac89 said:

The doors weren't locked, but that doesn't matter.

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idk where your at specifically, but in Las Vegas if a door is unlocked, the police will (and do) have the right to open doors to look inside..

compare it to you getting pulled over with weed in your car:
the initial reason the cop pulled you over was for a broken tail light
he could suspect (probable cause) weed in the car (smell or whatnot) / you being under the influence
he asks yo to step outside the car and puts you in handcuffs for "your and his safety"

now if he searches the car and finds an oz hidden in the (unlocked) glove box is that an illegal search?
answer: no.. perfectly legal -
if the glove boxed were locked and he FORCED his way into it and found your stash - totally illegal

being that your buddy had an arrest warrant makes it even worse..