Violation of 4th amendment?! HELP!

[IVTech09]

I live in Indiana.

I live in the state of Indiana.

Here is what happened: I am 22 years old. 16 months ago, A friend and I got into a disagreement and he assaulted me and would not stop so I ran and called the police.


I waited outside of my friends apartment for them to arrive.

They arrived, and they asked me what had happened. I told them. They went inside, and came back outside and asked, "Did you threaten to shoot him?" I said no, I did not.

They then asked if they could search my car: I kindly replied no, I do not consent to searches.

The police said, well why not, have something to hide?

I responded no, its my 4th amendment right under the US Constitution.

I swear on everything, this is what happened next.

2 of the 3 officers came over and held me down, and put me in handcuffs. They said, "**** your rights!" the third officer kept me seated on their police car while the other had taken my keys from my pocket, and unlocked my car. They then proceeded to search my car.

They found 3 doses of testosterone, a steroid. It is a Schedule III narcotic/controlled substance.

They asked if I knew what it was or who it belonged to and I said no, I do not.

They did NOT arrest me, write me a citation/ticket, NOTHING. They told me they would take it and test it for a controlled substance. If they did, a warrant would be issued for my arrest. They could have put me in a holding cell for up to 72 hours and that test would have come back within an hour or two!

This was SIXTEEN months ago, and JUST last week a warrant was issued. I was arrested and am now out on jail on bond. I am going to get a public defender and tell them the case.

My question is: can I get this case thrown out of court? Was the search illegal?

I did not consent to it, and they could have impounded my car and then got a warrant to search it, or even phoned a warrant and they did not. They simply put me in cuffs and said, "**** your rights." and began to search.

I'm joining the army, and even if this is knocked down to a misdemeanor I cannot join the army while on probation! I am hoping to get this case kicked out of court due to the fact that evidence obtained on an illegal search is dismissible in court.

What are your thoughts on this? What advice could be given here?

Thank you.

 

[CdwJava]

The search could be conducted if the police had articulable probable cause and exigent circumstances. Whether those were articulated by the officers or not, I cannot say. Your attorney can review the case and advise you if they had good cause or not, and how hard it might be to get the search suppressed.

A lot will key on what the other party says and what the officers believed. If they had reason to believe there was a gun in your car and you had threatened him with it in some way, that might be sufficient probable cause. At that point, they might be able to articulate exigency based upon the mobility and portability of the car and the chance of any evidence being destroyed while they sought a warrant, etc.

I suspect that the DA would never have sent it to court seeking a warrant if he felt that suppression was likely. But, you never know.

- Carl

 

[IVTech09]

All true. HOWEVER; since I was already detained and in handcuffs, would they not then have the need for a warrant since I denied them the right to search? I obviously was not going anywhere lol

The search could be conducted if the police had articulable probable cause and exigent circumstances. Whether those were articulated by the officers or not, I cannot say. Your attorney can review the case and advise you if they had good cause or not, and how hard it might be to get the search suppressed.

A lot will key on what the other party says and what the officers believed. If they had reason to believe there was a gun in your car and you had threatened him with it in some way, that might be sufficient probable cause. At that point, they might be able to articulate exigency based upon the mobility and portability of the car and the chance of any evidence being destroyed while they sought a warrant, etc.

I suspect that the DA would never have sent it to court seeking a warrant if he felt that suppression was likely. But, you never know.

- Carl

 

[CdwJava]

A detention is limited in time and scope. The time necessary to get a search warrant could take hours. If they believed a gun was in the car, and they did not have sufficient cause to make an arrest but they had sufficient cause to get a search warrant, then that adds a new wrinkle to things.

I cannot be certain as to the status of case law in this area for your state. That is why you need to speak with an attorney who can review the state's case and find out what probable cause and exigency they outlined, and assess how strong that might be. Since we don't know that, we can't say. i can hypothesize circumstances making it lawful, and circumstances allowing for suppression, but I'd be guessing.

You really need to speak with an attorney who can review the reports.

- Carl

 

[tranquility]

Due to it's inherently mobile nature, a car is almost an exigent circumstance in itself. While there are potential problems with the search, we would need to know the police justification and what they were told and saw. The car was within your control when they detained you, I don't think Gant would apply.

 

[IVTech09]

I'll get a copy of the police report and let you know what is posted.