Q: If I have a housemate and the police produce a search warrant for them, are my possesions included in the warrant?
For example; can they search my room or if I have a locked safe?
A: The search warrant generally applies to an entire premises, unless it is limited by its terms. If not limited, they may very well search and seize your items. If that were to happen, you would need to retain counsel to either invalidate the seizure as to your possessions, or move to suppress any evidence of a crime that implicates you that was seized from your room, and argue that your 4th Amendment rights were violated. You would likely have to establish that your room was clearly identifiable as only yours and not that of your roommate for whom the warrant was issued. However, if the warrant is racially valid and the police executed it in good faith, it is likely that any evidence inadvertently seized from your room that is evidence of a crime will be upheld as validly and legally seized. You need to be careful about whom you associate and live with, as their crimes may very well implicate you. Crime evidence found in the common areas of the rental unit may be deemed sufficient to arrest and convict all residents, and even visitors present at the time of the search.
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