Case #3: Do’s & Don’ts
1.) The police arrest you in your living room on charges of murder. May they open the door of your coat closet to make sure that no one is hiding there? May they open the door to your medicine cabinet?
- Yes to the first and no to the second. Reasonable belief must be established before any area within a crime scene maybe searched. In regards to the medicine cabinet there is no reasonable belief that an accomplice for example is hiding in said structure which would endanger the safety of the officer/s at the scene. Whereas the coat closet does hold the possibility of hiding an armed accomplice which could potentially place the lives of the officers in endanger their fore during the protective sweep of the domicile the closet can be checked under these circumstances.
2.) You have a semi-automatic rifle that you …show more content…
- Yes a warrantless search is permitted in these private dwellings. The reason said search may occur is because while in “hot pursuit” of a criminal an officer must continue to maintain the safety of him/herself as well as the public’s. Therefore in keeping with this goal if a criminal were to run through a public dwelling then its security has been compromised which puts the officer and the public in danger which warrants a security sweep of the premises. (when necessary)
6.) The police have a warrant to search your basement for evidence of a drug manufacturing operation. On their way through your house to go down to the basement, they see a cache of guns sitting on the kitchen table. May they seize the guns without a warrant?
- Yes they may. The guns may be seized so as to protect the safety of the officers during and after the legal search of the crime scene. (This also falls under regulations of the plain view
1.) The police arrest you in your living room on charges of murder. May they open the door of your coat closet to make sure that no one is hiding there? May they open the door to your medicine cabinet?
- Yes to the first and no to the second. Reasonable belief must be established before any area within a crime scene maybe searched. In regards to the medicine cabinet there is no reasonable belief that an accomplice for example is hiding in said structure which would endanger the safety of the officer/s at the scene. Whereas the coat closet does hold the possibility of hiding an armed accomplice which could potentially place the lives of the officers in endanger their fore during the protective sweep of the domicile the closet can be checked under these circumstances.
2.) You have a semi-automatic rifle that you …show more content…
- Yes a warrantless search is permitted in these private dwellings. The reason said search may occur is because while in “hot pursuit” of a criminal an officer must continue to maintain the safety of him/herself as well as the public’s. Therefore in keeping with this goal if a criminal were to run through a public dwelling then its security has been compromised which puts the officer and the public in danger which warrants a security sweep of the premises. (when necessary)
6.) The police have a warrant to search your basement for evidence of a drug manufacturing operation. On their way through your house to go down to the basement, they see a cache of guns sitting on the kitchen table. May they seize the guns without a warrant?
- Yes they may. The guns may be seized so as to protect the safety of the officers during and after the legal search of the crime scene. (This also falls under regulations of the plain view