Victim's property searched

[j4bs4209333]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Massachusetts

I friend of mine had his apartment broken into and had a small safe and an Lcd tv stolen. His neighbor witnessed the incident and positively identified the downstairs neighbor as the burglar. The police got a warrant for the downstairs neighbor's arrest and a warrant to search the house where he was staying. He was caught red-handed with the tv and the safe and he was arrested, he also was just released from prison for another armed robbery 5yrs ago. My friend (the victim), we will say he is an unlicensed street pharmacist. I'm sure when arrested the thief must have informed the police about his unlicensed business in an effort to save himself. The safe that was stolen was held as evidence for the robbery charge. The police called my friend and asked him to open the safe, which he of course refused to do. The detective showed up at his house the other day and told my friend that they had opened the safe which contained a few different types of pharmaceuticals, only a couple of each, maybe 3 types, and 2 dime bags of weed, plus $6500 cash (it really was $11,000 but the DT says $6500 I'm sure he went home a little heavy in the pockets that day). He informed my friend that there would be a summonds in the mail unless my friend wanted to "work" for him, which is absolutely out of the question. He still does not know if the DT had a warrant to open the safe, do they need a warrant to open the safe or can they just open it because they were given a tip by a criminal under arrest? The safe was a fireproof Honeywell safe that needed a key plus a 4-digit code to open so I assume it was cut open or a locksmith was used. He is NOT going to set anyone up so IF he goes to trial and they didn't have a warrant will it be an illegal search? If so no conviction means he gets his money back right? For what it's worth it was the 2 dimes, a finger scale, a few adderall, and 2 or 3 OC 80's. I've searched the internet high and low and couldn't find anything relating to searching a victim's property. Any advise?

 

[Antigone*]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Massachusetts

I friend of mine had his apartment broken into and had a small safe and an Lcd tv stolen. His neighbor witnessed the incident and positively identified the downstairs neighbor as the burglar. The police got a warrant for the downstairs neighbor's arrest and a warrant to search the house where he was staying. He was caught red-handed with the tv and the safe and he was arrested, he also was just released from prison for another armed robbery 5yrs ago. My friend (the victim), we will say he is an unlicensed street pharmacist. I'm sure when arrested the thief must have informed the police about his unlicensed business in an effort to save himself. The safe that was stolen was held as evidence for the robbery charge. The police called my friend and asked him to open the safe, which he of course refused to do. The detective showed up at his house the other day and told my friend that they had opened the safe which contained a few different types of pharmaceuticals, only a couple of each, maybe 3 types, and 2 dime bags of weed, plus $6500 cash (it really was $11,000 but the DT says $6500 I'm sure he went home a little heavy in the pockets that day). He informed my friend that there would be a summonds in the mail unless my friend wanted to "work" for him, which is absolutely out of the question. He still does not know if the DT had a warrant to open the safe, do they need a warrant to open the safe or can they just open it because they were given a tip by a criminal under arrest? The safe was a fireproof Honeywell safe that needed a key plus a 4-digit code to open so I assume it was cut open or a locksmith was used. He is NOT going to set anyone up so IF he goes to trial and they didn't have a warrant will it be an illegal search? If so no conviction means he gets his money back right? For what it's worth it was the 2 dimes, a finger scale, a few adderall, and 2 or 3 OC 80's. I've searched the internet high and low and couldn't find anything relating to searching a victim's property. Any advise?

Tell the drug dealer not to speak to the police without an attorney present.

 

[CdwJava]

They HAD a warrant ... they served a search warrant on the defendant's property and they discovered the stolen property. To ascertain the level of the theft, they had a right to look inside the property they had legally obtained via search warrant. It might be possible that your state would require a separate warrant to search inside of property they have already seized, but I doubt it. There are a great many reasons to justify entering a safe held lawful in custody of the police.

Your friend the drug dealer can hire an attorney and attempt to make a case for an unlawful search, but when/if that falls flat, he may well be in the market to make a deal or go to prison.

Next time, maybe your friend should reconsider calling the cops if his stash is stolen.

- Carl