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Served with a warrant tonight

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fanfeathers1985

Junior Member
Connecticut

Earlier this evening my children and I were enjoying a quiet evening at home when the police literally busted my front door in with a warrant to search my home for drugs, packaging material, guns, money etc etc. They found nothing and after repeated requests to see the warrant they finally produced it for me to read and who they were looking for does not live in my home, he is a friend of one of my kids but not a resident of this household. My question is this, is this legal? Did they have the right to swear out a warrant for my address and this kid doesn't live here? Naturally I am extremely upset about this, they did a half ass job searching my house, they searched my kids bedrooms, the cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom and didnt even look in the living room or my bedroom. They claim this kid has been under surveillance for the last 4-5 months and they observed him making transactions out on the street. I asked them if they observed people coming in and out of my house on a constant basis and they were like no, you have the same handful of people of people who visit here on a regular basis. I now have a front door that was listerally busted apart, I have to replace the door tomorrow and I think somewhere a mistake was made, this kid is not a resident of my home and I dont see how they can serve a warrant here when this is not his legal address and based on what? He visits my sons a couple of times a week? Thanks for any information or help you can give me in understanding this.
 


CdwJava

Senior Member
A search warrant is for a location not an individual. Apparently they had enough evidence to convince a judge to sign off on the warrant. It could be that they suspect your son of participating in, conspiring with, or being the unwilling dupe of someone else who is involved in some sort of criminal enterprise.

If your home was damaged in any way, perhaps you should consider making a claim for any damages to the agency involved.
 

swalsh411

Senior Member
Of course they can serve a warrant at a location other than a person's residence.

How old is your son and how old is this "kid"?

You can probably get a copy of the affidavit in support of the warrant from the court. Until you see that you really have no idea why they had probably cause. Nothing the police told you can be relied upon; it could be 100% lies.
 

fanfeathers1985

Junior Member
Both of the kids are 18. I am just at a loss as to why they would think drugs are being sold out of my home. My kids have their friends over, I have friends and family over but I dont have constant traffic or suspicious people coming in here like you would see at a place that is selling drugs, so I fail to see where they thought drugs were being sold out of the house. I am far from naive and I know what goes on out there on the streets but I am also well aware of what goes on in my home. When I asked last night about the damage to my door they all stood there shrugged their shoulders and one said well I guess you will have to fix it I am like you could have knocked I have never refused a cop entrance into my home, never had any reason to nor would I have had reason to last night. I am going to make some calls this mornings about the damage but for some reason I think they arent going to do anything to help me fix it even though they found absolutely nothing and trashed my house in the process. Of course I am thinking now what are they going to doget a warrant everytime someone comes into my house that may or may not be a drug dealer?
 

BOR

Senior Member
I now have a front door that was listerally busted apart, I have to replace the door tomorrow and I think somewhere a mistake was made, this kid is not a resident of my home and I dont see how they can serve a warrant here when this is not his legal address and based on what? He visits my sons a couple of times a week? Thanks for any information or help you can give me in understanding this.
How long did they wait after knocking? Or did they even knock?

The 4th AM protects people not places.

The 4th AM is clear on the procedure to issue a Search Warrant, it must be based on probable cause supported by oath or affirmation that "evidence of a crime exists on the premises". It is NOT necessary the resident him or herself has committed it to support PC.
 

fanfeathers1985

Junior Member
They never knocked on my door at all. When I asked them why they didn't they just knock, they said they dont have to. I was just floored because I am a law abiding citizen and have never ever refused cops entrance into my home. I can recall a few times they came here regarding different incidents in the neighborhood and I always let them in, I have nothing to hide which makes this whole situation from last night just plain out baffling because I fail to see where they justified evidence of drug dealing here, based on what? A kid who comes around once in awhile? What he does on the streets is of no concern to me and after speaking to a few different people today apparently my home wasnt the only one raided in connection to this kid. If this is what the law is turning into it, cops getting search warrants for places/homes where "suspected" drug dealers may visit then this isnt a state or even country I would want to live in
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
They never knocked on my door at all. When I asked them why they didn't they just knock, they said they dont have to. I was just floored because I am a law abiding citizen and have never ever refused cops entrance into my home. I can recall a few times they came here regarding different incidents in the neighborhood and I always let them in, I have nothing to hide which makes this whole situation from last night just plain out baffling because I fail to see where they justified evidence of drug dealing here, based on what? A kid who comes around once in awhile? What he does on the streets is of no concern to me and after speaking to a few different people today apparently my home wasnt the only one raided in connection to this kid. If this is what the law is turning into it, cops getting search warrants for places/homes where "suspected" drug dealers may visit then this isnt a state or even country I would want to live in
Please write when you find a country to your liking...we'd love to hear from you!
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
Unless your state is unlike the other 49, the police needed to convince a judge that there was more than just "suspected" drug dealing. Out here, we don't seek such warrants based solely on suspicious foot traffic - we can't! The affidavit would not not meet the probable cause requirement!

I strongly suspect that when/if you ever an obtain a copy of the affidavit the police had a lot more to go on than unusual foot traffic.
 
"we always allow police into our house" ... oh brother, ,,, dont let cops into your house w/o a warrant for ANY reason. I just ask if I am under arrest & if they say no, then tell them to get off my land & slam the door in their face.
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
"we always allow police into our house" ... oh brother, ,,, dont let cops into your house w/o a warrant for ANY reason. I just ask if I am under arrest & if they say no, then tell them to get off my land & slam the door in their face.
What a cordial fellow. :rolleyes:

Hopefully you never need to call for help some day.
 

fanfeathers1985

Junior Member
I thank you all for your replies. I talked to the kids mother and apparently he was dealing on the streets, they have audio of him selling to an undercover and because he came here once or twice a week to crash because he had nowhere else to go that night or whatever they thought he was staying here and to the person who said slam the door on the cops, why would I do that? I am not doing anything illegal I am a single mom with 2 kids who minds her own business and keeps to herself. My kids have their friends who visit just like I do and half the cops on my local force I went to school with so I have nothing to hide at all. On top of that, I have a family member who is a state cop here and I havent been able to get ahold of him to talk to him about it, hes been working mega overtime but I will see him in a couple of week and will talk to him about it. The kids mother got a lawyer and he is getting copies of the affidavits and everything else, warrants etc and she will get a copy of them for me. I have the search warrant right here and it says what they were looking for and who they were looking for and it wasnt my kids, it was the kid who was finally arrested yesterday morning. So when I know more I will let you all know, again thank you all for your replies.
 

tranquility

Senior Member
Cordial or not, merely opening the door, in some circuits, forfeits some civil rights. It would be sad to have government agents only help those who forfeit freedom to them. *I* would hope for a day where insisting on one's Constitutional rights would not anger the government or its representatives.

Slamming to door is inappropriate. Not opening it or, thanking the officers and gently closing it would be far better.
 

Some Random Guy

Senior Member
Well since the local drug dealer calls your house home a couple of times per week, it is reasonable for the police to search your house for the items you stated.

However, it seems unusual to have a no-knock warrant absent any other aggravating factors, such as a history of violence on the part of the dealer.

See this link and read the Knock and Announce Requirement section
Exceptions to Warrant Requirement legal definition of Exceptions to Warrant Requirement. Exceptions to Warrant Requirement synonyms by the Free Online Law Dictionary.

that link includes this snipet from the US Supreme Court

To justify a no-knock entry, the Court stressed that police must have a reasonable suspicion that knocking and announcing their presence, under the particular circumstances, would be dangerous or futile, or that it would inhibit the effective investigation of the crime by, for example, allowing the destruction of evidence
File a claim with the city for damages. But if there was a valid reason for a no knock warrant, then the claim for damages to the door will likely fail. Was anything else damaged besides the door?
 

fanfeathers1985

Junior Member
Random Guy, thank you for that link. They never knocked they just busted down my door and on top of it all I have a pretty severe hearing loss and it sounded like someone fell over and one of my sons is a Type 1 diabetic so I thought maybe it was him and when I got up to check they had just busted the door down and yelling and screaming they had a warrant blah blah and I demanded to see the search warrant and the cop was like you will get a copy I said I want to see it now, I have a legal right to see it right now, it took him 20 mins to produce it and they only searched half my house and found nothing. None of us knew what he was doing on the streets, if I had any idea he was dealing I would have never let him stay. He kept it hidden really well, no one knew what he was doing on the streets and I just think the fact that he came to my home to either hang out or spend the night wasnt grounds for them to come search my home and bust down the door. I am just waiting on the information regarding the search warrant and hopefully I will know more. Thanks again for the link. Much appreciated
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
As a note, the police are never obligated to show you a search warrant immediately upon entry. Unless your state law differs from most others, they are generally required to leave a copy of the order at the home or present it at some time while they are there, but they are not required to stop what they are doing and engage in a discussion over the warrant (obvious safety issues with that).

Unless all parties were asleep at the switch, the police had more than just his coming and going to support the warrant. I suspect they had statements from others, or maybe an admission from him to someone that he stashed stuff at your place.

Speaking from experience, I could NEVER, EVER get a search warrant based upon a suspicious guy coming and going from a house ... not even if the guy was a doper. I would need more than just his occasional visit. Hopefully, no members of your family have names that pop up as being in some way involved - even unintentionally.
 

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