Pacoima, CA asked in Criminal Law, Appeals / Appellate Law and Civil Rights for California

Q: My boyfriend was arrested today 05/03/2023 in front of my neighbors down the street approaching the neighbor's home. E

Every was arrested in the car my boyfriend had a warrant for his arrest for failure to report with his probation officer. My boyfriend does not live here with me this is not his residence his residence is at his father's his probation officer has his primary address down as his father's my home is a place he visits he does not spend the night here. My question is are they able to come in my home and search my home after they have already made their arrest for who they were looking for? Also they went into my room and found ammunition in a box that was put away that belongs to me and said it was my boyfriend's and that his name was on the box? The moments the sheriff's approach my door I opened the door and said hello they said yeah we already know he's not here we seen him leave earlier when they already had him arrested I opened the door they walked in I assumed they were here to look around and see if he was here but they did not say they were here to do a search

1 Lawyer Answer

A: Police officers need a warrant to search your home. You should not have allowed them to come inside your front door without a search warrant. However, once you let them in, they can look at whatever is in plain sight. Never assume anything, particularly when it comes to police officers approaching your home. You need to assert your rights as soon as a police officer knocks on your door or rings your doorbell. They have no right to search your home, unless they have a search warrant, particularly describing things to be searched for or seized. Without a warrant, the officers had no right to enter your home at all, much less to go into your bedroom. Any evidence seized as a result of an illegal search can be suppressed on motion of the person against whom the evidence is to be used. Therefore, your boyfriend's attorney should be informed of the illegal search asap.

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