Criminal Law
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Answered in 26 minutes by:
11/5/2014
Lucy, Esq., Lawyer
Category: Criminal Law
Satisfied Customers: 32,796
Experience: Criminal Justice Degree, JD with Criminal Law Concentration. Worked for the DA and U.S. Attorney.
VerifiedHi,
My name is ***** ***** I'd be happy to answer your questions today. I'm sorry to hear that this happened.
Unless the spoon was sitting out in plain view, yes, that's a violation of the Fourth Amendment. Police do have a right to grab any contraband or weapons in plain view if they are somewhere they have a legal right to be, and they have a right to be in your home if someone called 911.
However, they don't have a right to go rummaging around through the entire house while they're there. They can walk around to see if there are other people in the house, but they can't open drawers and stuff (because a person couldn't be hiding in a drawer). If you had already been taken to the hospital, then any urgent circumstances that might require an immediate search are gone, and they should have been able to get a warrant before searching. Judges do warrants over the phone now.
If you are charged with a crime, you have a legal right to have an attorney appointed to represent you at no cost if you can't afford one. This happens at the arraignment. And your lawyer can file a Motion to Suppress the spoon and any other evidence police found poking around your house without a warrant.
If you have any questions or concerns about what I've written, please reply without rating so that I may address them. It's important to me that you are 100% satisfied with my courtesy and professionalism. Otherwise, please rate my service positively so that I get credit for the time I spend helping. Thank you.
My name is ***** ***** I'd be happy to answer your questions today. I'm sorry to hear that this happened.
Unless the spoon was sitting out in plain view, yes, that's a violation of the Fourth Amendment. Police do have a right to grab any contraband or weapons in plain view if they are somewhere they have a legal right to be, and they have a right to be in your home if someone called 911.
However, they don't have a right to go rummaging around through the entire house while they're there. They can walk around to see if there are other people in the house, but they can't open drawers and stuff (because a person couldn't be hiding in a drawer). If you had already been taken to the hospital, then any urgent circumstances that might require an immediate search are gone, and they should have been able to get a warrant before searching. Judges do warrants over the phone now.
If you are charged with a crime, you have a legal right to have an attorney appointed to represent you at no cost if you can't afford one. This happens at the arraignment. And your lawyer can file a Motion to Suppress the spoon and any other evidence police found poking around your house without a warrant.
If you have any questions or concerns about what I've written, please reply without rating so that I may address them. It's important to me that you are 100% satisfied with my courtesy and professionalism. Otherwise, please rate my service positively so that I get credit for the time I spend helping. Thank you.
Lucy, Esq., Lawyer
Category: Criminal Law
Satisfied Customers: 32,796
Experience: Criminal Justice Degree, JD with Criminal Law Concentration. Worked for the DA and U.S. Attorney.
VerifiedLucy, Esq. and 87 other Criminal Law Specialists are ready to help you
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DISCLAIMER: Answers from Experts on JustAnswer are not substitutes for the advice of an attorney. JustAnswer is a public forum and questions and responses are not private or confidential or protected by the attorney-client privilege. The Expert above is not your attorney, and the response above is not legal advice. You should not read this response to propose specific action or address specific circumstances, but only to give you a sense of general principles of law that might affect the situation you describe. Application of these general principles to particular circumstances must be done by a lawyer who has spoken with you in confidence, learned all relevant information, and explored various options. Before acting on these general principles, you should hire a lawyer licensed to practice law in the jurisdiction to which your question pertains.
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