Illegal Search and Seizure
Criminal defense lawyers guard the right to privacy very closely. Many possession with intent cases are both made and broken based on the legality of searches and seizures conducted by the police or other law enforcement. This is true whether your case is prosecuted in Fort Lauderdale, Florida or in other locations throughout the state. The rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution apply equally to all people in all American jurisdictions.
This includes the right to privacy.
Generally speaking, law enforcement is not allowed to search your personal property without a warrant. Police are also not allowed to take possession of your belongings.
However, there are a number of exceptions to these rules.
Warrantless Searches
When a criminal defense lawyer analyzes a case to see if the police violated your rights, one of the first things to be considered is whether or not the police conducted a warrantless search. If so, a criminal defense lawyer must then determine whether or not the warrantless search was based on one of the many exceptions to the rule requiring a warrant.
First and foremost, whenever there are exigent circumstances and police need to search your property as a result, they are not required to waste time and get a warrant. For example, if someone called 911 from a specific house screaming that they needed help because a robber had just broken in, police would not need to waste time obtaining a warrant from a judge. On the contrary, they would be well within their limitations to go to the residence and make forced entry into the home.
Another exception to the warrant rule is when a police does a pat down on a person for officer safety. Such searches are routinely done during traffic stops. Many illegally possessed weapons and other contraband, like cocaine, are found during searches conducted for officer safety.
While searches for offices safety are entirely permissible, they are not without their own limitations. For example, a police officer would have a hard time justifying a search of your vehicle’s locked trunk for officer safety. Typically speaking, these searches are limited to a pat down of one’s body and an emptying of the pockets.
Next, a police officer is allowed to conduct a search after a person has been placed under arrest. This is called an inventory search. Once a person is arrested, the police have the right to make sure you are not bringing any illegal substances, weapons, or other contraband into the patrol car (where it could threaten officer safety) or into any jail facility. Moreover, police have a right to inventory your property so that it may be returned to you at a later time upon your releases. Without conducting an inventory upon arrest, it would be impossible for police agencies to keep track of all the personal property people have on them at the time they are arrested.