police entered without a warrant? what to do??

[desternies]

What is the name of your state? Connecticut

Hello all and let me preface by saying thank you for taking time to read and respond.


on Wed at aprox 8p I was finishing up a bath for my oldest child (3yrs) and had just put my youngest to bed(1.5yrs). An officer knocked on my door and asked to speak with my younger sister who lives with me and my family. He was rude from the moment i opened the door. he demanded to know where she was and when i stated that i didnt know he called me a liar.
he insisted that she was here and that he needed to speak with her. so i told him again that i didnt know where she was and that i would call him for her and let him speak to her. I closed the door, and dialed my sister. She answeres and i tell her that there is an officer here and that he needs to speak with her**************.she then informs me of a warrant she has for breach of peace. but that she had spoken with an officer and was going to turn herself in the next am. i hand him the phone and again close the door. I can hear him yelling and swearing at her...." i know your in that f***ing house" ect. at this point my 3yo is getting upset at the strange man on her porch yelling, its causing a scene and i have neighbors that can hear him for sure. I open the door to ask him to stop yelling and swearing and before i can get the words out of my mouth he is handing me the phone and pushing past me into my home. i did not invite him in. i did not give him permission to enter. i did not in anyway shape or form make any gestures to enter. He begins running around my house yelling where is she, i know shes f***ing here, all the while stomping around, opening doors and searching my home, my child is getting very upset and begins to panic, crying and saying "stop yelling, thats fresh" "what are you doing?" ect. this is coming from my child and im asking him what he thinks hes doing**************he asked where the door to the 3rd floor is and i tell him in the dinning room. he begins to enter the closet and stop him because it is connected to my childrens room and i didnt want him to startle the baby. which at this point is a moot point the baby is up and crying now. He opens up the correct door and runs upstairs. Apparently my sister had come home as i was in the bathroom with the child in the tub, i didnt know that she was here.....its a large home. I realize that he was right and she was home and i ask my sister if she wants me to come upstairs. she says yes. i try to put my child on the couch so that i can go upstairs but she is all stired up. i can hear the officer yelling and swearing at my sister from the living room and i go upstairs to find the officer searching through her purse and her belongings "looking for her ID." He begins to yell at me calling me a liar and threating to arrest me for interfering, and having dcf come out and take my children since i wouldnt be home to supervise them. he cuffed my sister and led her down the stairs still yelling about arresting me and how shes not cooperating and swearing every other word. mid way down the stairs i told him that he needed to stop his yelling and swearing because he was freaking out my children. He toned it down a bit but continued to say im lucky he doesnt "pinch" me and im a liar ect. He led her out the door and hauled her to the station where she was released on a promise to appear and was home 45 min later. when talking about the incident with my sister i asked what she had said to him just before he pushed past me and she said that she told him she would meet him outside in a minute. she didnt say come inside, or anything to indicate that she was upstairs.

My question is what can we do to end harassment like this. It isnt the first time the officers have treated me like a criminal and spoke to me like im a dog, barking orders at me. My sister doesnt hang out with the best crowd but what she does is her business and doesnt mean that im involved in anyway in what she does with herself. Im sick of feeling harassed and demeaned by these people. what can i do? besides that was it legal for him to enter my home?


thanks in advance for any info that you can provide

 

[Zigner]

Sounds like the police officer was serving a warrant perhaps?

Oh, and I gotta say - you really need to stop harboring your sister

 

[CdwJava]

My question is what can we do to end harassment like this.

Stop harboring wanted fugitives, for one.

It isnt the first time the officers have treated me like a criminal and spoke to me like im a dog, barking orders at me.

The officers have a lawful right to control the scene. They can order you to do many things, and there may be consequences for failure to comply. The place to argue with them is NOT when they are busy dealing with something, but in a courtroom or via a personnel complaint.

My sister doesnt hang out with the best crowd but what she does is her business

When she starts getting arrest warrants, it also becomes the state's business, as well.

besides that was it legal for him to enter my home?

It sounds like he was serving an arrest warrant on a subject he knew to be inside the residence. In your state that may be sufficient to justify entry.


- Carl


thanks in advance for any info that you can provide[/QUOTE]

 

[desternies]

hmmm.

CdwJava;1763568]Stop harboring wanted fugitives, for one.

ok just to let you know the warrant came through in the afternoon, she was notified by an officer in the department and advised them that she would be in the next morning to turn herself in. Are you suggesting i throw her out of the house for getting into a fight with a girl that resulted in a warrant???


The officers have a lawful right to control the scene. They can order you to do many things, and there may be consequences for failure to comply. The place to argue with them is NOT when they are busy dealing with something, but in a courtroom or via a personnel complaint.

I do not believe that ANYONE has the RIGHT to swear and demean you in front of your CHILDREN in YOUR home. He inferred that i was "interfering" by not realizing she was home. I did NOT argue with the man, i had no time to, i was trying to tend to my upset child. I do intend on filling a personnel complaint.

When she starts getting arrest warrants, it also becomes the state's business, as well.

I understand that, and have no argument with that statement. But to be treated as if i am involved in her antics is not appreciated.


It sounds like he was serving an arrest warrant on a subject he knew to be inside the residence. In your state that may be sufficient to justify entry.

in the end he turned out to be correct. she was upstairs. but what if he were wrong and she wasnt here? Is that out of line? Besides, he could have asked to come in, there was no need to push past me in front of my child on the couch a foot away. Let me just tell you he was not gentle, police departments find that to be acceptable? shoving people out of the way in order to enter without even asking to enter or warning you?

I have tried to search the ct.gov website for case law and specific statutes regarding the warrant and the legalities of just letting yourself in. Listen, im not looking to sue the department, nor do i want an officer fired or publicly humilliated. Rather, i do want him to apologize to me. I would also like him to remember the situation and handle it differently the next time he encounters it. He could have spoken to me like a human being and shown me the same respect i was showing him. Remember, i didnt know she was upstairs, and i DID call her to have her speak with him. its not like i was being a queen B. He could have asked to come in my home, and not swore, yelled and ran about the house looking like a mad man. i am very upset that he scared my child and treated me as if i were guilty by association. I am quite supprised to find a "ends justify the means" viewpoint here. I hope that dealing with a bunch of idiots and arses has not effected your ability to see a situation with a fresh set of eyes so to speak.


- Carl


thanks in advance for any info that you can provide

 

[CdwJava]

Are you suggesting i throw her out of the house for getting into a fight with a girl that resulted in a warrant???

When you know the police are going to come knocking, yes. Supporting her is fine and dandy, but offering her a place to hide is quite another and can result in bad things for you.

I do not believe that ANYONE has the RIGHT to swear and demean you in front of your CHILDREN in YOUR home.

That may not have been proper, but it was not unlawful. They had a right to control the situation. If they used inappropriate language, that is a personnel issue you can raise with the agency.

I do intend on filling a personnel complaint.

That's the proper venue.

I understand that, and have no argument with that statement. But to be treated as if i am involved in her antics is not appreciated.

However, from their perspective, they may well believe that you WERE. People lie to the police all the time, and family members hide wanted family members all the time as well ... amazing, but we have people lie and try to hinder us all the time.

in the end he turned out to be correct. she was upstairs. but what if he were wrong and she wasnt here? Is that out of line?

It depends on the standard of your state's law. In my state we need a separate search warrant to enter a residence not the suspect's in order to search for the suspect ... though that can inconvenience everyone else because we then lock the house down and no one leaves til the warrant arrives.

Your state may permit a search of a premises on the reasonable/articulable belief belief that the wanted person is inside - many states do hold to that standard.

Besides, he could have asked to come in, there was no need to push past me in front of my child on the couch a foot away. Let me just tell you he was not gentle, police departments find that to be acceptable? shoving people out of the way in order to enter without even asking to enter or warning you?

I can't second guess what the officer did, but I have to admit I have done the same thing ... it depends on what we know or believe at the time of entry. There are good reasons to make a quick entry. Whether those reasons existed here or not may be up to an internal inquiry by the agency to determine if he acted out of line or not.

Remember, i didnt know she was upstairs, and i DID call her to have her speak with him.

Honestly, I wouldn't believe you either if you said you did not know she was there. To most of us, the odds that you have no idea someone is inside your house is pretty remote. It would certainly give them reason to think that anything else you said might be untrue.

I am quite supprised to find a "ends justify the means" viewpoint here. I hope that dealing with a bunch of idiots and arses has not effected your ability to see a situation with a fresh set of eyes so to speak.

Perhaps if you saw it through the eyes of the responding officers, you might understand that end of it. I have been on both ends of this in my life, so I have that advantage over the vast majority of people I contact or that post here. You do not know what the officer believed at the time ... to you, there was no threat and it was rude ... to the officer, there may have been some perceived threat or a need to take quick and decisive command of the situation. Maybe the officer was just rude. Who knows?

I can only speculate as I was not there and I do not know you or the officer. But, the proper avenue is the personnel complaint and hopefully they will deal with the matter. If it is a matter of propriety, hopefully that will be addressed. But, don't hold out your hopes of an apology as that is very unlikely for a number of reasons ... but, you might be pleasantly surprised.

- Carl

 

[quincy]

Generally, under federal law, a search warrant is required before an officer may search a place, although a warrant can be waived for a search incident to a lawful arrest or for a search after a hot pursuit or for a search under emergency conditions. However, Connecticut's State Constitution restricts warrantless searches - an officer must obtain consent to enter a home, under Section 7. Without the consent of all occupants in a home, or a search warrant, an officer cannot search any home or seize any person or thing.

In the only Connecticut case I reviewed, the Court protected the rights of the property owners over the officers' warrantless search, in support of the State's section 7 (State of Connecticut v. Nicholas A. Brunetti, SC 16788, 2004).

 

[CdwJava]

Generally, under federal law, a search warrant is required before an officer may search a place, although a warrant can be waived for a search incident to a lawful arrest or for a search after a hot pursuit or for a search under emergency conditions. However, Connecticut's State Constitution restricts warrantless searches - an officer must obtain consent to enter a home, under Section 7. Without the consent of all occupants in a home, or a search warrant, an officer cannot search any home or seize any person or thing.

In the only Connecticut case I reviewed, the Court protected the rights of the property owners over the officers' warrantless search, in support of the State's section 7.

However, some states DO consider an arrest warrant to confer such a right to search. My state is not one of them, but I know they are out there ... not sure if CT grants the right to search on arrest warrants hence the reason he would have to consult an attorney. And, in my state, an arrest warrant DOES give the police the right to force entry into the suspect's residence - maybe the same in CT. The question then becomes: Was this the suspect's residence? Or, was it indicated as such on the warant or arrest?

- Carl

 

[quincy]

Obviously I am not an expert in Connecticut law or law enforcement but, after reviewing more Connecticut decisions, I am coming to the, admittedly perhaps incorrect, conclusion that Connecticut does not allow warrantless searches of a home, unless such a search is justified by exigent circumstances - which does not appear to be the case here. Proof of that, that I see at any rate, is the fact that the sister was released after 45 minutes.

A present and objecting party to a search, such as desternies, should not have her Constitutional rights ignored. A search conducted without a warrant issued upon probable cause seems to be considered unreasonable without valid consent obtained, and a search by an officer can be justified only on proof that the protections offered by the 4th and 14th Amendments and Section 7 of the State Constitution have been waived. Connecticut seems to put individual liberties over police expediency in every case that was not of an emergency nature (which again, from desternies description, does not appear to be the case here, although it was made, apparently, as an incident to a lawful arrest).

But, of course, you are right. A Connecticut lawyer should be consulted.

 

[dmf32835]

No matter what these other guys are saying, the only law that really matters is the 4th amendment of the Bill of Rights. It reads:

'The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.'

 

[CdwJava]

But there IS a warrant - an ARREST warrant. This warrant does, in many states, have the same authority as a search warrant for purposes of entering and securing the party named on the warrant. If so, and CT treats arrest warrants thus, this was NOT a warrantless search.

- Carl

 

[CdwJava]

If the location in question was the purported residence of the defendant named on the arrest warrant, it is VERY likely that the police would have the authority to make entry to search for the defendant ... state law and Federal Circuit Court interpretation would determine whether reasonable cause needed to be present or not.

- Carl

 

[The Occultist]

No matter what these other guys are saying, the only law that really matters is the 4th amendment of the Bill of Rights. It reads:

'The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.'

Your knowledge of the law and the application thereof is obviously very high. Thank you for your insight.

 

[Just Blue]

Your knowledge of the law and the application thereof is obviously very high. Thank you for your insight.

**************..

 

[quincy]

Carl, I understand what you are saying about arrest warrrants perhaps allowing for a search. That, however, does not seem to be the case from what I read of Connecticut law. An arrest first would allow potentially for a search without a search warrant, but a search to make an arrest does not seem to be allowed if it violates Section 7 of Connecticut's Constitution. Even in cases of traffic incidents - unless the person in the car has been arrested FIRST, perhaps from what is seen out in plain view in the car, the search of the car is not allowed, even if the car contains contraband that results in an arrest LATER. Unless in an emergency situation where waiting for a search warrant is not possible.

Again, this does not seem to be the case in this poster's situation. This search seemed to cross the line - given the information provided here. In my humble opinion.

 

[seniorjudge]

No matter what these other guys are saying, the only law that really matters is the 4th amendment of the Bill of Rights. It reads:

'The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.'

Did you happen to actually READ the poster's questions?