Asked in Civil Rights and Criminal Law for Florida

Q: A search warrant was served in a house i was living in, the police lied about an arrest warrant

They had for me, calling me out of the house prior to entry, i was awakened by this and put on a pair of shorts that wrrent mine. They searched me and found drugs. I would have never put on those shorts if they hadnt lied about the arrest warrant because i wouldnt have gone outside. All charges were dropped except those possession charges is this ok for the cops to lie about the arrest warrant? It did afterall cause me to put on the shorts that got me arrested what do i do?

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2 Lawyer Answers

A: You apparently have a pending criminal charge. You therefore must promptly address your issue with your criminal defense attorney. If you don't have an attorney yet, hire one now , or if unaffordable, determine if the Court will appoint the public defender. Of course it' s not "okay" for police to lie, and that might be a basis for a motion to suppress the evidence.

Jeffrey H. Garland
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Answered

A: First off, the "I put on somebody else's shorts" defense is usually not a winner. But, through your lawyer, you can file a Franks motion challenging false statements in a search warrant application. You must establish that you had standing to challenge the search warrant. As is often the right answer, you need to talk to a lawyer about your options. That lawyer should get all the discovery, including the search warrant application and search warrant, before providing a solid answer.

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