no search warrent

What is the name of your state? Arizona

while my husband and i were away visiting a friend, the police came to our house on a tip from someone that they would find
drugs there. the police intimidated my 16yr old into letting them into the house. they then asked for my older son (20) who was not at home. they then searched the house. in doing so they woke my daughter who was sleeping. because they found a old rifle in my son's closet which was not loaded and had belonged to his grandfather and a small amount of marijuana they then cuffed the kids and did a body search on them. they did this without a
search warrant. when my older son came home, he went with the police to the station and was processed and released. he is going to court in a few days and on the paperwork it is listed as a felony. was this legal?

thank you
barbara

To many variables to tell you if it was legal or not. Here are a few points that might help.
If the police are given consent to come into a house they legally can come in. If right off the bat they notice something in plain view that is illegal then they can seize same and arrest accordingly. If the person who gave them permission to come in gives consent to search then they can also search. If it is a house with more than one person living there then the person allowing the officers to search can only give permission for area that are his own or common areas. They can give permission for the police to search their room but they can't give permission to search somebody elses room if that person has an expectation of privacy.
I think being you child was 16 and there were not any adults around, that can cause them some problems with the search.
Did your son share the bedroom where the items were found or was he the only one in it?

Each of the boys have their own room. There was nothing in
plain view for them to see. They searched all the house, including
our bedroom where my daughter was sleeping. Thanks for the
info. We go to court tomorrow. I will post the results.

They can't search your room or your son's room without his or your permission.

The true dispositive issue is the reliability of the informant's tip (this statement makes the assumption that there really was an informant's tip and the police are not just making this up). Assuming the informant's tip is not reliable or non-existing. The privacy of your home was invaded without probable cause. The Arizona Constitution may provide for a greater expectation of privacy then the Fourth Amendment. Any of your children who are of a reasonable age to understand what is going on can consent to a government search of their home. Once the police are in the home and they see contraband in plain view the contraband can be seized. If the weapon was not in plain view and it was part of a protective sweep it can also be seized. Also if your son was charged with Misconduct With A Weapon, a class 4 felony in addition to Possession of marijuana, a class 6 felony the government needs to prove a nexus between the firearm and the marijuana.