At the same time if evidence WAS found, can’t it be thrown out of court if it was obtained illegally?
But is it illegally obtained if consent was given?
mmm
If you let them in to look around knowing they don’t have a warrant I would imagine that it would be obtained legally, but I also assume the devil is in the details.
But as the OP describes it, the police did nothing illegal. They did not search either the house or the car before getting permission. Any evidence they might have found would have been acceptable in court.
The whole situation would scare the hell out of me, too, since I’m a nice, law-abiding guy.
But from the point of view of the cops, it could have boosted somebody’s career.
Is this a possible scenario?:
Suppose a newly-hired detective knows an informer on the street, who claimed that the OP was a drug dealer. Nobody else in the department trusts that informer, but the new detective wants to impress his boss. There isn’t enough evidence to ask a judge for a warrant, so the new detective convinces a couple of underlings to join him on a drug bust. If it works, they find drugs and the new detective advances his career. If it doesnt work and no drugs are found,the detective keeps the whole thing quiet, the cops on the beat just report another routine day of patrolling, and the new detective doesn’t even tell his boss what he tried
No harm done----except to the innocent OP, who gets harrassed and intimidated for no good reason.
Yes, and that’s why you keep telling them they can’t come in. The OP (or his mother) should not have let them in. As tempting as it is to say “sure go ahead and take a look around” just to clear your name and get it over with, if they end up finding something illegal, you’re going to get a ticket/arrested for it. Those old percocets that are in the wrong bottle, some weed tucked away in the back of a closet from college, who knows what they’ll turn up.
Maybe you’ll get lucky and they’re looking for hundreds of pounds of weed or thousands of kilos of coke so they’re not rifling though all the towels in your closet and and every drawer in your kitchen, but, still, if you let them in and they find something, it’s on you.
On the other hand, if you keep saying ‘no’ and they push they’re way past you, anything they find is, if I understand it, considered illegal search and seizure. Not that you’ll get your pot or pills back, but at least they’ll toss it out in court.
As for what happens next, I don’t know. Your mom let them in so that makes this a little more difficult, but you might try poking around on the internet for other times it’s happened (and it does happen often enough) to see what should happen next. At the very least I’d file an official complaint against ever officer you got the name of, with their department AND make sure your department knows these officers were in their jurisdiction.
BTW, if you kept pushing for the warrant, they probably wouldn’t have received it. Unless they were working on really bad information, at some point the address or name probably would have been corrected.
A warrant will be specific about what they can search for and where. Give them permission to come in and they can search anywhere for anything.
The police could literally tear down my house and I can assure you they would find nothing: no old drugs, weed, etc. They can listen in to any phone call, read any email and I wouldn’t be worried.
To be accused of being drug dealers is beyond crazy. I’m pretty much a typical suburban mom. I don’t know of anyone “on the streets”! Maybe a student? I haven’t had any problems with any of them.
I told him: if you get a warrant, I’m more than happy to let you in. That’s when he started in on: oh you better know I’ll be coming in and it won’t be nice, etc.
It’s bizarre that he claims that they had been watching me. If he had, he’d know what a ludicrous statement this is.
My mom let them in because she is a nice grandma. In her world, you always do what the police say no matter what.
My biggest worry is that they are still convinced I’m doing something (wtf!) and will do this again but in an even more embarrassing place or that they’ll come in and search for things and pretty much destroy my home in the process.
What a surreal experience. It’s weird to think someone could make a claim like this and it’s all the police need to bring in around 9 police (6 on me and 3 at the house) and a dog!
Does anyone know if it was illegal to make a phone call? Or would the only phone call if be allowed to make would be to a lawyer?
In my state you can’t go fishing even with consent. In State v. Carty it’s stated that there must be reasonable and articulable suspicion of criminal wrongdoing prior to seeking consent. So even with a properly asked for and given consent, if there is found to not be RAS then it will be thrown out. But remember that is a state precedent and not the law of the land.
I can’t see how a phone call would be illegal because it’s not like you were under arrest. If you were free to refuse them to search without a warrant, then how could they not allow you to call?
With the veiled threats the officer made the minute you expressed reservations about them searching, it should be no surprise that people viscerally distrust cops. Why should we trust anyone who tries to scare us out of asserting our rights? It’s like trusting a used car salesman who has a gun and a trigger finger.
Bad News Baboon, could the “tip” to the cops have been made by someone with a grudge against you? Swatting is when some jackass phones in a tip that something bad is going on at a certain location, hoping that the cops show up in force and make the victim’s life miserable. The caller can disguise his or her location and place a call to 911, alleging a hostage situation, drug activity, etc. A journalist I follow pissed off some bad guys who tipped the police to drug activity at the journalist’s house and actually mailed drugs to his house as part of the setup.
Anyway, it sounds like the police in your case probably just got the wrong person. But if there is anyone in your life who’s trying to get back at you or anything, it could have been a fake tip to the cops.
It’s a reasonable guess that they confused you with somebody else.But it is also possible that this may not be the end of the story— and you have no way to know when it ends or what will happen next.
I hate to sound paranoid, but it might be worth setting up a nanny-cam or two around your house, so that if the police come back, you’ll have some concrete evidence of what they do.
It’s worth contacting a lawyer just so you have someone to call next time.
Sounds like typical police intimidation and coercion. You were entirely in your right to insist on a warrant, and their immediate threats are standard operating procedure by the cops. Now you know.
The uncertainty lies in your mother allowing the cops in to search without a warrant. Whose house is it, yours or your mothers? I’m not certain how much of a difference it makes, and perhaps anyone living in the house, whether they own it or not, can allow a search without a warrant. I would talk to your mother and explain that she should never let any cops in without a warrant. I’ve told my wife and my kids that if a cop shows up at the door, go out on the porch (don’t let them in the door) and don’t let them in without a warrant. I’ve also told them never let the cops search any of our cars without a warrant. No, I’m not doing anything illegal, but I want to exercise my constitutional rights at all times.
On a personal level, I’m sure this was frightening and disturbing. But, sadly, it’s not surprising.
He asked me that: is there someone angry at you? He asked if my ex could be mad?
I can’t think of a single person. Things are amicable with my ex. He’s the first person I called after this happened.
Really, the only thing I can possibly think is a wrong address: they meant my neighbors.
To answer other questions:
It’s my house. When I was divorced, my mom came to live with me to help out. I’ve told her to not let any more police in.
My ex’s family knows a lot of lawyers and a judge. I’ll be calling my ex-mom-in-law today to get a number.
Great post, and welcome to the board! Enjoying your first day so far?
Going out on the porch may not be a good idea either. Just ask Professor Henry Gates. Cops can’t enter your house without your permission, but can arrest you outside your house, including your porch, on the often-bogus “disorderly conduct” charge. Best thing is to speak to the police through a locked screen or storm door.
Man Dies in Police Raid on Wrong House
Cops bust into, raid wrong house
Police raid wrong home, throw innocent woman into yard half-naked
Police investigate after boy injured during SWAT team raid
The raid came after someone had threatened local police officials on an Internet message board.
In the last link, police raided a home when a neighbour used the 68-year-old woman’s wireless connection to post threats against police on the Internet. A lawsuit has been filed.
My wireless has a password. I hope no one figures it out. (I forget it myself.) It’s probably easier to access one of the unsecured Wi-Fi routers nearby. I hope.
Not to be paranoid, but is your daughter being bullied or anything? I doubt that many 10 year olds are going to pull a swatting call, but maybe some older kids?
This does sound like the most likely scenario.
You’re right. Even better is to talk through an upstairs window, not even cracking the front door. Or look through that upstairs window (or a security camera) and pretend you’re not at home and ignore them. I guess it depends on how vigilant and careful you want to be.