Home Search warrant

[lamplight21]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CO
A past employer who has a serious mental problem got a warrant to have my home searched for items she said were stolen from her. Police could not find anything that she claimed so no household items were removed. They did take several bottles of prescription medication that were under various names which were not related to the case they were investigating. These were not on the warrant nor was it suggested that any such would be on premises. Is this Ok for them to do and to make a seperate case for such?

 

[justalayman]

an employer does not "get a warrant to search". The DA does pursuant to a legal investigation but that isn't your question.

You want to know if you can be charged with illegal possession of schedule drugs if they found them as a result of the search warrant for another crime.

yes. an additional crime does not have to be ignored when searching under the warrant of another crime. If that were not true, what would happen if they found a dead body while searching the house? Would they have to simply pretend they did not see it?

 

[CdwJava]

A past employer who has a serious mental problem got a warrant to have my home searched for items she said were stolen from her.

Actually, the employer did NOT get a search warrant, as justalayman stated. The employer's complaint to the police apparently led them to articulate probable cause to believe that you were in possession of the stolen items and a judge agreed with their articulated cause thus issuing the warrant.

Police could not find anything that she claimed so no household items were removed. They did take several bottles of prescription medication that were under various names which were not related to the case they were investigating. These were not on the warrant nor was it suggested that any such would be on premises. Is this Ok for them to do and to make a seperate case for such?

If the medication was located in a place that they had a lawful right to search for the items in question, then they had a right to seize them after discovering evidence of a NEW crime. Do you really think that the police have to ignore a crime if they see it all because they are not there on THAT incident? If they see kiddie porn strewn around the living room, do you think they have to let it pass because the warrant is for stolen property?

It does not work that way.

They observed evidence of a crime while in a place they had a lawful right to be. Unless they looked somewhere that was NOT included in the search warrant, the evidence of unlawful prescription meds will almost certainly be admissible.

Consult legal counsel ASAP.

- Carl