Search Warrant

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

We feel we were falsely targeted for a search warrant, specifically we were accused of being drug dealers. My family are upstanding, employed members of a minority community with no drug involvement whatsoever. We believe the target of this investigation was the residence next door, as there's suspicious and frequent traffic there. Officers first pulled me and my husband over 3 blocks from home, handcuffed us, put us in their unmarked car, drove to our home and started trashing our home looking for drugs. We were also subjected to strip searches. After 3-4 hours, they left with no drugs found. We believe the surveillance officers were not the same officers that obtained the search warrant, and this is where the error was made. I've already written letters to the chief of police and am in the process of filing a complaint with our Citizens Review Board and Human Rights Division. What would be our recourse legally?

Recourse? What exactly are you looking for? If you think you won the lottery and intend on suing the state for "damages", I don't think you that you'll be pleasantly surprised.

There is no way you can sue the state on your own; you will absolutely require the aid of the attorney. Keeping such in mind, here is my advice: try and find a lawyer that is willing to take this case on a contingency basis (meaning the lawyer doesn't get paid unless he wins the case). If you cannot find such an attorney, take that to mean that this is not worth pursuing and to let it go.

You are certainly entitled to sue anyone you believe has caused you damage.
The key word here is "damage".

So first and foremost, you need to assess your damages. The police agency is responsible for any and all property that was broken and/or destroyed by them, in the execution of the search warrant.
You will of course, need proof of said damages. You did take pictures of your house torn to shambles correct?

Have you lost your job or has your reputation in the community been damaged as a result of the police making this mistake? Again, you will need to prove this.

Have you and/or your family members been traumatized by this incident and what treatment are you/they receiving for this condition? You'll need medical records and doctor reports to support such claims as well.

The same would apply to any physical injuries you sustained due to rough handling by the police, if at no point you resisted their attempt to arrest or detain you.

Being falsely or mistakenly targeted as a drug dealer, then being strip searched and having your home ransacked is certainly nothing anyone wants to be subjected to. If the police did an efficient investigation and planned the execution of the warrant properly, it really shouldn't happen.

Unfortunately, it is something that does happen and probably more often than many people would believe. I'm not sure what you're reason for stating, the following may be:

We believe the surveillance officers were not the same officers that obtained the search warrant, and this is where the error was made.

Click to expand...

As I don't see how any agency could secure a search warrant without doing their own investigation, nor any reason why they would want to, but I suppose anythings possible. Also it is quite common for a number of agencies to be involved in these type of investigations, even though only one may do the actual arresting and filing with the DA.

What's even more unfortunate, is that unless you have suffered some extensive damages as a result of this police activity, you are not going to be compensated with any substantial sum of money, so don't expect any big windfall or as The Occultist hinted, this will not result in any lottery type winnings on your part.

So you should assess the damages you claim are a result of this mistaken police activity and bring your proof of the damages to an attorney for review. If the attorney doesn't believe you stand to receive much in the way of compensation for your troubles, then you can still file a claim with the city/police agency responsible. If they refuse to pay the claim, then you can sue them on your own, in small claims court for up to whatever limits are set in your area and receive compensation for your damages that way.

Search warrants are tough as a JUDGE has already determined there was probable cause. Unless you have evidence the underlying afidavit was intentionally false, you have no way of winning on the warrant.

Now, it seems you are saying they exceeded the warrant. I am a bit uncertain on that. What did they do that was wrong exactly? (Assuming the warrant was correct.)

tranquility said:

Search warrants are tough as a JUDGE has already determined there was probable cause. Unless you have evidence the underlying afidavit was intentionally false, you have no way of winning on the warrant.

Now, it seems you are saying they exceeded the warrant. I am a bit uncertain on that. What did they do that was wrong exactly? (Assuming the warrant was correct.)

Click to expand...

Just a guess here but it seems OP believes the cops got the address wrong on the warrant. Wouldn't be the first time either.