Unreasonable search(house raid)

[the kings daugh]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? ILLINOIS. ON 10-30-09 MY HOUSE WAS RAIDED SWAT CAME IN HAND CUFFED US, THEY CAME IN WITH THE DOGS THEY FOUND NOTHING,THEY HAD ABOUT 20 OFFICERS TO ALSO SEARCH THEY FOUND NOTHING.THEY KNOCKED ALL MY DOORS DOWN TORE MY HOUSE UP .THEY CLAIMED TO BE LOOKING FOR GUNS AND DRUGS. THEY GAVE ME A SEARCH WARRENT THAT WAS SIGNED ON 10-28-09-THEY CAME IN WITH FLASH GRANADES AND ASSULT WEAPONS WE WERE SCARED FOR OUR LIVES. THEY SHOULD HAVE INVESTIGATED BEFORE THEY CAME IN MY HOUSE.THEY HAD THE WRONG HOUSE. SOMEONE LIED TO THEM. I WANT TO KNOW IF WE HAVE A CASE.

[IsabellaSoriano]

you know, when you type in all caps like that, it comes off as shouting. it's much easier to read for us aging seniors.

[the kings daugh]

Sorry don't mean to shout, didn't have my glasses ...thanks

[dave33]

Yes, sounds like you have a good case. Did anyone get arrested? I would say at least for the damage to the house,if not more. You really need to speak with an attorney. If they acted on false info. than they have a problem. They also may hve included false info. in their application. This is all stuff your attorney will look into. goodluck.

[the kings daugh]

No one was arrested,no drugs were found,no guns were found no one said they were sorry. They took the cuffs off and left. And that was it.

[xylene]

Originally Posted by the kings daugh

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? ILLINOIS. ON 10-30-09 MY HOUSE WAS RAIDED SWAT CAME IN HAND CUFFED US, THEY CAME IN WITH THE DOGS THEY FOUND NOTHING,THEY HAD ABOUT 20 OFFICERS TO ALSO SEARCH THEY FOUND NOTHING.THEY KNOCKED ALL MY DOORS DOWN TORE MY HOUSE UP .THEY CLAIMED TO BE LOOKING FOR GUNS AND DRUGS. THEY GAVE ME A SEARCH WARRENT THAT WAS SIGNED ON 10-28-09-THEY CAME IN WITH FLASH GRANADES AND ASSULT WEAPONS WE WERE SCARED FOR OUR LIVES. THEY SHOULD HAVE INVESTIGATED BEFORE THEY CAME IN MY HOUSE.THEY HAD THE WRONG HOUSE. SOMEONE LIED TO THEM. I WANT TO KNOW IF WE HAVE A CASE.

You are unclear

Did the SEARCH WARRANT specify YOUR ADDRESS?

OR

Did the police have a warrant for a different address


Lets say YOUR ADDRESS IS 123 Fake St.

Did the police's warrant say

123 Fake St

or

321 Fake St

The answer to this question will have HUGE bearing on how much damges (if any) you may be entitled to.

[HighwayMan]

Search warrants are signed by a judge upon probable cause. The police were acting in good faith based on the fact that they did, in fact, have a warrant.

It all comes down to what was said in the previous post - did they make a mistake and go to the wrong address or did the warrant specify your address?

You can probably recover damages for the property damage, but I'm not sure it would go beyond that, unless they went to the wrong house.

Best bet is to speak with an attorney.

[haplesshome45]

Certainly, as previously posted in response, if the "search warrant" described properly the address to be entered and searched, and described specifically the items to be taken, then your cause of action for wrongful entry "against those policemen" is not going anywhere in any big rush.

You should be able to develop a claim for damages where your property was trashed. A search warrant does not grant a right to behave like the Huns.

Also, if the policemen did anything that was not specifically outlined in the warrant that they had a right to do, then you may be able to claim damages for that.

That said, remember that the warrant is created by a warrant application. Some policeman wrote something up and it ended up before a judge. The person creating the Application has an obligation to do so truthfully. If the Application was done by a policeman - which is typical - then the policeman typically has some immunity against suit, or "qualified immunity." But that is not an absolute immunity. If the policeman that applied for the warrant did so by putting in things that he knew were not credible, or relied on someone that he knew was a liar, and did not disclose that to the Judge, then in effect he is misleading the Court. At that point I rather suspect that the policeman - the applicant for the warrant, not the ones that executed the warrant - becomes exposed to a civil claim for damages. You may also have other claims that you can develop.

Since you are looking for money damages then that is the best place to start. Look for an attorney that handles "Section 1983" lawsuits. There are attorneys that specialize in Sec. 1983, and quite a bit of case law developed on it.

You may be able to find someone to do this claim "on contingency," where he keeps a percentage, typically 1/3 of what is awarded.