What if a cop has a grudge and knows that you moved out of the county…then tells your old neighbors that if they see you return to call him. Then when he misses you, he calls the next county and tells them that you were seen at a known drug dealer’s house and the local cops come to your house and claim to be able to search it without warrant because they got a report from another law agency?
This happened to my brother last weekend and since he is a pot smoker, of course they found a bag of dope and arrested him. They then told him to stay out of Butler county.
And is it true that they don’t need a warrant if another law agency reports you?
They said that they don’t need a warrant so if he didn’t open the door they would break it down and have to take his kids away.
I live with my brother and I went with him to his old house so I know this info is accurate. Also, the truck we took wasn’t in either of our names and we’ve never been in Butler county in that vehicle. Also, our aunt is the only one that saw us (it’s way out in the country with no other neighbors), and I’m thinking she’s the one that called the police since we’ve never gotten along with her and she wants the property that my brother owns.
My brother’s ex-wife lives in Butler county and they have kids together so he cannot stay out of that county.
Can the police keep harassing you just because they don’t like you?
Were you actually there when the police came to the door, and did you hear them say they would take the kids away if he didn’t open the door and let them in, and did you hear them say they didn’t need a warrant?
Yes, I was present for that part and can vouch for it. As far as what the police told him in jail about staying out of Butler county, that was just my brother and the police.
he didn’t actually say that he would take the kids, he said he would call DFS to come get them. None of the lawyers around here are willing to touch it. They say there isn’t enough notice and they are all too busy.
First, go to the nearest lawyer and get a springing power of attorney naming you the kids specific alternate guardian. If DFS does end up with the kids, with that document you get to claim the kids instead of them going into foster care [I have one for my goddaughters, because their grandfather is a pedophile, and she was afraid that if she ended up hospitalized while her husband was deployed the kids would go to the nearest living relative, her asshole dad. We timed it, I could get to their house in New Jersey in just under 4 hours flat and the kids had access to a couple cell phones and I was on speed dial. They were instructed that if they had to call the ambulance or heard their mother was in hospital they were instructed to call me before anybody else and their school was instructed to call me instead of DFS so I could come and get them.]
Make sure that no matter what, you are the person that gets called, you can then arrange to get the kids and call him a lawyer … you really do not want kids getting filed into the foster care system at all. It can be almost impossible to extract them once you have any sort of drug related charge.
I know that police can legally lie, but when one officer uses another agency to reach out and fulfill a vendeta, that officer should be the one in jail. The officer got it in his head that Billy does meth because he is thin and his teeth are bad. He has been to their old house at least three times (that I know of) questioning Billy’s wife and kids as to the whereabouts of Billy’s meth lab. That’s how the problem between them started.
thanks, I will do the power of attorney. I have never even seen the inside of a jail cell except for on TV, and Billy has never had a drug charge until now…and it is a misdemeanor for less than 35 grams (the minimum charge here). He is irritable, but I’ve convinced him to quit smoking and maybe we can get all this behind us soon. I appreciate the advice.
Sounds like it was a good tip. IANAL, so I can’t vouch for the legality of the search. Your brother should request a court appointed attorney, if he cannot afford one.
As far as the sheriff’s office ordering you to stay out of their county, I highly doubt that is legally enforceable unless ordered by a county judge. Now they may continue to harras him if he does, but he’ll have to cross that bridge if it happens.
how is it a good tip? They said that “his truck was seen at a known drug dealer’s house” and he doesn’t even own a truck, nor has he ever been seen in that truck prior to this day, nor did he go to anyone’s house other than his own. So they can make crap up and harass people just because they know the person most likely has a bag of marijuana, and it’s a good tip? Wow.
shrug The police had information that led them to believe that there were illegal drugs in your brother’s house. They found illegal drugs in your brother’s house. Most police would consider that a “good tip,” would they not?
He needs a court-appointed attorney if he can’t find one on his own. (I have never heard of this phenomenon where all the attorneys in a particular area are “too busy.”)
That is one fucked up mess!
IANAL But FWIW, it sounds to me like the cops bullshitted their way into the house.
Here in Houston, if they’re knocking on the door, you DON’T have to let them in. If they’ve got a legitimate reason to force their way in, they WILL have a warrant and they definitely WON’T knock.
Well, there might be a knock, the knock of the sledgehammer breaking in the door as they holler, “POLICE, NOBODY MOVE!”
You most definitely need some professional legal advice.
Sorry for your troubles, I sure hope you can get all of this straightened out.
Near as I can tell, JBD, the OP is not in any trouble himself. It’s his brother who’s facing drug charges. I don’t understand why having children with an ex who lives in a particular county would be relevant, though, depending on their custody arrangements.
You are assuming that the tip came from the trip you took with your brother, and that isn’t the case. Think about it. Your brother did not get the bag of pot when you were with him - that you are reasonably sure of as you were there. But he DID have a bag of pot, and he had to get it from somewhere. He got it at another time when you were not there.
Drug dealers are sometimes under surveillance by police. People who buy drugs from drug dealers should not be surprised if they are observed when they buy drugs. If the police say “someone called them” they are just trying not to reveal the surveillance operation. Drug users are dumb enough to believe that.
Depends on the jurisdiction. From what I remember in law school, no where in the United States would this be sufficient for a warrantless search, let alone sufficient to get an impartial magistrate to sign off.
There were just a couple recent threads about search warrants and the non-television requirements (one was about suspected counterfeiting, the other about reading High Times or something like that).
They did not have “information that led them to believe there were illegal drugs” in the house. Even if we take the least friendly view of the OP and say that the police did witness him enter a known drug house, and did witness him drive away, that may be enough to obtain a warrant (though would likely need more), but would not be sufficient to authorize a warrantless search.
This, of course, does not apply to countries outside the United States–your jurisdiction may differ.
They may have. My experience is as a juror in a drug trial, and in that case there was not only visual surveillance but also a phone tap. A simple visit to a drug dealers house was not enough evidence, but if that visit was preceeded by a phone call that would reasonable be considered as a request for drugs, and the visit allowed the transfer of the drugs (such as stepping inside the building for a few minutes), then the evidence is much better. I’ll assume that the law enforcement personnel in Butler county are competent.
Edited to add: there may also be a pattern. People use the same dealer again and again.
You’re making things up that were not in the OP. Of corse different fact patterns lead to different results . Further , this has nothing to do with a warrantless search.
