What are search warrants and why are they necessary?

A search warrant is basically a permit issued by a judge or a court that allows law enforcement officers to raid and search someone’s private property legally. Let us take a look at how a search warrant is obtained and what it entails in terms of what law enforcement officers can and cannot do with it.

A Judge’s Word

Obtaining a search warrant will require solid reasoning and suspicion, this is not Cuba or North Korea or even Russia where people do not have any rights and the government can do whatever it wants to you whenever it wants. The US Constitution protects us all from unlawful searches and seizures. What this means is that law enforcement officers cannot search your property or your person without either your consent or a written and signed search warrant document and this document must be shown to the person as well who is being searched.

It cannot be like the movie Training Day where corrupt and out of control police officer Det. Alonzo Harris (played by Denzel Washington) gave a document to the home owner but it was not a search warrant, it was some paper advertisement. And he did this to enrich himself to boot!  

Expert criminal defense lawyers tell us that in order to obtain a search warrant the law enforcement needs to show or prove probable cause to an unbiased magistrate. There should be reason to believe that the person that requires to be searched has somehow been involved is something illegal and is concealing possible evidence, contraband, illegal firearms, etc.

The police will communicate this to the magistrate via written statements or oaths that are technically referred to as affidavits. It is then up to the magistrate’s discretion to figure out whether or not they will issue the search warrant based on the probable cause.

What can law enforcement officers do with a search warrant?

There are some limitations as to what police officers can do when they acquire a search warrant. First, they may only search the sites/properties mentioned in the warrant and can only search individuals as stipulated by the search warrant.

In what cases are search warrants not required?

There are several instances where a search occurs without a search warrant and is still legal. In the opinion of criminal defense attorneys, if a suspect provides verbal consent to being searched then law enforcement officers can go ahead and conduct a legal search. These kinds of searches are known as consent searches and are perfectly legal.

Another type of lawful search that can take place without the requirement of a search warrant is called the plain view search and is facilitated legally by something known as the plain view doctrine.

If you are being charged with a crime and if the police are writing you up you need a criminal defense lawyer. Just because they say it is so does not mean it is that way. Even if you made a mistake and go caught up with the wrong crowd you still need legal help if you are being charged with something. The police can put handcuffs on you real quick but when you get access to a computer again, the Internet, you need to go right here: http://criminal-defense.usattorneys.com/. This is a legal digital resource tool that can help you immensely. 

In other words, when a law enforcement officer is able to see something illegal such as contraband or firearms or an open container in the case of a DUI suspect, in plain view, then he or she may proceed to search the property within which it lies without the requirement of consent or a search warrant. This is also legal.

There are a couple of other searches that are legal, and these are searches such as a search made in relation to an arrest, an emergency search, and a stop and frisk.

According to criminal defense lawyers, when an arrest is made a law enforcement officer can perform a search ‘incident to’ it without a search warrant. Likewise, they can also search in cases of an emergency as just mentioned.

The stop and frisk is a type of search where law enforcement officers can stop someone when they have reasonable suspicion and frisk them for weapons if they believe they are armed and dangerous.