false arrest drug charges

[barbi681]

NY

I stopped by a friends house the other day, knocked on the door as was met by police who informed me they were conducting a "drug raid",I took a step back and an officer took me by the elbow lead me into the house took my pocketbook and cuffed me. He then sat me in the livingroom with the other people also cuffed and took my pocket book into the kitchen with 3 other officers, while another told me I was under arrest and will be charged with everything they find in the apt. Then the cop came out of the kitchen and told me I was under arrest for criminal possession of controlled substance, said "they found a crack pipe in my pocketbook"... This is not true, I had nothing on me, no drugs, no crack pipe, they proceded to take "us" to the Detective office where we were all seperated and interigated,
I was told I wasnt cooperaring because I had no names of drug dealers to give them, so They proceeded to charge me, I went to central booking where I was finger printed and mug shot and released with an apprearance ticket to answer the charges, Is this legal, can they do this to me? HAve my rights been violated, oh and they never read me my rights either, I was let go with a apprearance ticket and have to face the judge next week on the charges, the officer said he would talk to to the DA on my behalf. Also my prior conviction is NOT drug related.
SOMEONE PLEASE ADVISE, this doesnt sound legal to me.
Thank you

[The State]

Your detention, and arrest, may or may not be lawful depending on a number of factors - none of which are included in your facts - the primary of which is that you fail to state whether the "drug raid" was based on a search warrant. Another factor is how many times, and under what circumstances, you've previously been to that house.

What were you doing there, by the way? Have you been there before? Have you used, or bought, drugs there before?

[barbi681]

Ok , thank you for respoding,
The officers said there was a warrent for her and her only, her address, I never saw it.
she is a friend and I have been to her home many times. But no, i wasnt there to buy drugs, I had no drugs on me. They pulled me in the apt, the news article DOES state that I was not there and that I arrived while the search was alredy in progress. They had nothing with my name on it, isnt this a violation of my 4th amendment rights?? They claim they found mostly pills, of which I know she has a presciption for. How is it that they can just pull me from the hallway and make me a part of this? they told me unless I give them names of other dealers, I was going in with the her and being charged with everything they found, because I had no names to give them, this is what they did to me.

[racer72]

Is this legal, can they do this to me?

Nothing in either post suggests the police did anything illegal.

HAve my rights been violated, oh and they never read me my rights either,

You watch too much TV. In fact, in your own words none of your constitutional rights were violated. Miranda rights are only required prior to interragation after your arrest. Any information you gave cannot be used against you but can be used against others.

They had nothing with my name on it, isnt this a violation of my 4th amendment rights??

Nope, you were attempting to visit a location of known drug activity, based on the warrant, and thus opened yourself up to being searched. You need a better class of friends.

What you need now is an attorney that can review all the facts, from yours and the police perspective. Based on that information he/she obtains, a defense for you can be made. Based on the facts that you were just cited and released, you are not being charged with a very serious crime, likely just a misdemeanor of some sort. Talk to an attorney asap, and don't say you can't afford one, you can't afford to not have one.

[barbi681]

Thank you for your input, FYI...the 4th ammendment comment didnt come from TV watching, I just dont know much about this legal stuff because I dont have any dealings with it. I just thought it might apply is all. I will now educate myself.
Thank you again

[racer72]

The TV part actually had to do with the Miranda warning. On TV, for the purpose of dramatic effect, the police officers will read someone their Miranda warning right after the arrest. This rarely happens in real life, Miranda is read just before questioning and often the person arrested has to sign a form that they understand their rights.

[barbi681]

ok well they didnt do that either, I wasnt ask to sign anything but the appearance ticket after I was booked, also I asked them to show me the crack pipe they supposedly found in my purse, since they searched it in another room without me present, I was told to sit there and shut up, they produced nothing. I was also denied a phone call, which I requested 3 times at the Det Office and then again when I was released, I asked to use the phone to call a ride, I was told to walk down the streeet to the train station, I could find a cab there.

[jmnixon333]

If you have any other eye witnesses to prove that your pocket book was taken out of your sight, it is an illegal search. They must search your property in your presence for that very reason. This case would be dismissed on this factor alone if that is what went down.

[barbi681]

Thank you for that info, The other witnessness 4 others probably wont be credible though, they were all cuffed in the living room with me, as I stated when they opened the door they lead me in, took my bag, cuffed me, and I never saw my pocketbook again, until I was released from central booking. 3 officers emerged from the kitchen 1 saying I was under arrest for CPCS, and told to shut up

[barbi681]

OK , guys and gals...
IS it a fact that a search of my purse without me present is considered illegal??

[Kane]

You didn't say what you were charged with, but I'm guessing it was paraphenalia, a fine-only offense.

If it's a fine-only offense (no jail time possible) you don't *need* a lawyer. Find out what the maximum fine is, and then decide how important it is to you to fight it.

If you decide not to get a lawyer, show up at your court date and plead not guilty, and ask for a trial. The police may well not show up, in which case the charge will be dismissed. If they show, the judge will listen to both sides and decide who he believes.

I don't think the police can detain you or search you based only on your showing up when they're conducting a raid, but I'm not from NY, and it's not a simple issue.

There's no requirement that they conduct the search in your presence - assuming the search was lawful in the first place.

[racer72]

Originally Posted by jmnixon333

If you have any other eye witnesses to prove that your pocket book was taken out of your sight, it is an illegal search. They must search your property in your presence for that very reason. This case would be dismissed on this factor alone if that is what went down.

The above information is not true. There is no legal requirement for any search to be conducted in the presence of the owner of the property. Folks are searched every day and it is common to restrain the person and search without the person being present.

To the OP, forget about using the legality of the search as a defense, as I previously stated, based on the info you provided, the search was legal and the the officer had just cause to search, you were attempted to visit a place of known drug activity.

[CdwJava]

Originally Posted by jmnixon333

If you have any other eye witnesses to prove that your pocket book was taken out of your sight, it is an illegal search.

I must have slept through that part of the academy and the numerous training updates on Search and Seizure since then.

Taking the pocketbook out of someone's sight does NOT make it unlawful. There is no requirement they search it in her presence - none. In fact, there can be a number of valid reasons to take it away before searching it.

They must search your property in your presence for that very reason. This case would be dismissed on this factor alone if that is what went down.

You are so very wrong on this. Could you please cite some authority for this belief? I think you are in error.

- Carl

[barbi681]

Thank you all for your input, I am getting many different opinions on the case. I dont know what will happen, Im not concerned about the fine I AM however concerned about a Drug conviction on my record, If I was quilty I would take my lumps, but Im not. And it will be my word against the officer if he shows up, like you said.
What he did may or may not not be illegal, but it certainly wasnt right and thats on him, I guess to say to me its a form of black mail, tell us names or get arrested, the charges are BS and he knows it. Maybe he was just pissed off that he got bad lead as for the search and arrest warrent for my friend stated she was selling crack out of her apt, no such crack was found. But thats her case not mine.

[CdwJava]

The nature of the drug business being what it is, when we serve a search warrant for sales, we very often DO miss most the dope. If a dealer picks up deliveries on day one, they may have all the product sold by day two. If we search the premises on day three, we may find some indicia of sales, and maybe some other goodies, but we rarely find the amount of dope we had hoped for. It can be a crap shoot.

Perhaps what they found was not so much a "crack pipe" but some other item used for the ingestion of drugs. Do you have a history of drug use? If so, it may be hard to convince a jury that the item in question was NOT yours.

- Carl