Ex- roommates ADT alarm signals cops 2 search home and charges me for seeds.

I currently live in Ohio, but I am being charged by Pennsyvania State Police. So apparently someone broke into my ex-roommates house and his ADT alarm went off. Pennsylvania State Police showed over an hour later and searched his small dresser drawers for burglars while he was away for Thanksgiving, they found a few water pipes and and a cigar tube filled with discarded seeds in my old bed room from 7 months ago. They told him that he was going to be charged with possesion of marijuana and he told the police he thought they were mine. Now I am being threatened with charges. Can I be arrested even though I moved out 7 months ago and moved out of state 3 hours away?

Try this. Mail a certified letter to each guy (cop) advising them that no matter what the result of their "unconstitutional" search and seizure may be, you will be filing suit against each of them "individually". Nope, not suing the city, no official status either, just suing them EACH "individually". You may not get any cash but so what?

You get the keys to his/her peace of mind, priceless.

Then let them make the next move in this Chess game...

I would but I don't the cops address lol

I would but I don't have the cops address lol

Wow ... imagine that, someone threatening to sue a cop ... I am sure they will be terrified.

The entry of the home is likely valid due to the alarm - assuming the police found a method of entry and did not have to break in themselves without some reason to believe an intruder was inside or someone needed aid. Whether they had a right to look in drawers or not will depend on why they did so. The best procedure would have been to seek a search warrant after they made entry and discovered indicia of drug cultivation, possession or sales. Maybe they did? Even so, it is the occupants that would tend to be charged, not someone who has been gone for 7 months.

The friend can probably get the evidence suppressed if there are no other pertinent facts. The most common remedy for unlawfully obtained evidence is the suppression of the evidence. The friend may have grounds to sue the police if the violation was sufficiently egregious and a reasonable officer would have known that a search of the drawers was improper under the circumstances they knew or believed at the time.

Trickster said:

Try this. Mail a certified letter to each guy (cop) advising them that no matter what the result of their "unconstitutional" search and seizure may be, you will be filing suit against each of them "individually". Nope, not suing the city, no official status either, just suing them EACH "individually". You may not get any cash but so what?

You get the keys to his/her peace of mind, priceless.

Then let them make the next move in this Chess game...

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If it wasn't the OP's residence or at least under his control, OP has no rights to claim under the 4th.

If on that same road, OP isn't going to be found guilty of squat.

Get the police officers names and badge number (call the police department) IT IS ON THE REPORT and then go to anywho.com and search for them

daytimer69 said:

Get the police officers names and badge number (call the police department) IT IS ON THE REPORT and then go to anywho.com and search for them

Click to expand...

No need. They can be served legal documents at their place of business - the police department. Sending them a certified letter with a written rant is going to be meaningless and they would be under no legal obligation to respond or even read the letters.

I don't know the law in your state, but in Florida the circumstances that you give are usually dealt with by the prosecutors by declining to file charges against the absent roommate. You don't say what sort of threats you have received that charges will be filed, but I suspect it consisted of a police officer leaving a card at your door or calling you up to interview you. Hopefully you declined to speak to the police about this. Even saying something innocent like admitting that you used to live in that bedroom could bolster the cop's evidence to the prosecutor. Really, in a case like this, the only way the police can get the probable cause they need to proceed with charges is to get a confession from you. So remember to exercise your right to remain silent. And you really should interview a few attorneys and see if one of them can represent you pre-filing for a reasonable fee. That way your attorney could talk to the police and prosecutors about how silly this case is, without you having to make statements to them.

Also, it usually is not a good idea to threaten the police while you are hoping that they drop your case. Talk to an attorney in your state about any letters or threats of lawsuit you make to the police. Good luck.

Garry Potts