Were my 4th Amendment Rights violated? If so, what can I do?

[jaredh916]

CA

No arrests or citations were issued.

Below is the issue:
On 9/26/217 at approximately 7:30 pm my girlfriend crashed a motorcycle in a single vehicle accident two houses from my house.The crash was caused by her loosing control of the motorcycle. There was no damage to other properties or other vehicles. After the crash, she went inside the house to tend to the abrasion on her hip.

XX PD responded (neighbors called) and Officer RO contacted me on my property outside my house. He asked what had happened, I explained my girlfriend crashed a motorcycle and was inside the house. He requested I inform her to come outside. I explained I would be right back to let her know to come outside. He mentioned that would be "ok". As I closed the garage door to go inside the house, Officer O charged at me into my garage as the door was closing and yelled “I’m not playing any games with you.” I asked him “what was he doing” and that he “needed to tone his voice down and I was going inside and complying with his request.” Officer O then forcefully detained me even though there was no connection to any crimes being committed. My girlfriend came outside and Officer O conducted a search of the property. My girlfriend was also detained and searched, however there was no reason to believe a crime had been committed.

I sustained a very small cut from the handcuffs (possibly not a significant injury). There were no illegal substances or any crimes committed and I have never been arrested. We both have motorcycle licences and the motorcycle is registered and insured.

Did the police have probable cause to forcefully detain me and search the house without a warrant?

 

[Zigner]

Elk Grove, CA

No arrests or citations were issued.

Below is the issue:
On 9/26/217 at approximately 7:30 pm my girlfriend crashed a motorcycle in a single vehicle accident two houses from my house.The crash was caused by her loosing control of the motorcycle. There was no damage to other properties or other vehicles. After the crash, she went inside the house to tend to the abrasion on her hip.

XX PD responded (neighbors called) and Officer RO contacted me on my property outside my house. He asked what had happened, I explained my girlfriend crashed a motorcycle and was inside the house. He requested I inform her to come outside. I explained I would be right back to let her know to come outside. He mentioned that would be "ok". As I closed the garage door to go inside the house, Officer O charged at me into my garage as the door was closing and yelled “I’m not playing any games with you.” I asked him “what was he doing” and that he “needed to tone his voice down and I was going inside and complying with his request.” Officer O then forcefully detained me even though there was no connection to any crimes being committed. My girlfriend came outside and Officer O conducted a search of the property. My girlfriend was also detained and searched, however there was no reason to believe a crime had been committed.


I sustained a very small cut from the handcuffs (possibly not a significant injury). There were no illegal substances or any crimes committed and I have never been arrested. We both have motorcycle licences and the motorcycle is registered and insured.

Did the police have probable cause to forcefully detain me and search the house without a warrant?

There's more to the story, so nobody here can really give you an answer. If you are genuinely concerned and wish to pursue this, I would suggest that you speak to a local attorney who can review all of the facts. Best of luck to you.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Assuming that everything you said was true and you didn't leave anything out your right were likely violated. That in no way changes the fact that you need to talk to a lawyer.

 

[Taxing Matters]

CA

Did the police have probable cause to forcefully detain me and search the house without a warrant?

The officer needed only reasonable suspicion, not probable cause, to detain you. The officer needed probable cause in order to do the search and in general needs a warrant for the search, too, unless some circumstance that justifies a warrantless search exist. We are only getting your version of the events; in order to analyze this one would need to also know what is the that officer saw and heard that prompted him to take the actions he did.

But even if we assume that the officer violated your rights, you appear to have suffered nothing more from this other than “a very small cut” which did not need medical attention and likely only required at most a bandage for proper healing. What this means is that that you wouldn’t win anything if you sued other than a token $1 or the cost of the bandage, and it would cost you a lot more than that to pursue it.

 

[LdiJ]

CA

No arrests or citations were issued.

Below is the issue:
On 9/26/217 at approximately 7:30 pm my girlfriend crashed a motorcycle in a single vehicle accident two houses from my house.The crash was caused by her loosing control of the motorcycle. There was no damage to other properties or other vehicles. After the crash, she went inside the house to tend to the abrasion on her hip.

XX PD responded (neighbors called) and Officer RO contacted me on my property outside my house. He asked what had happened, I explained my girlfriend crashed a motorcycle and was inside the house. He requested I inform her to come outside. I explained I would be right back to let her know to come outside. He mentioned that would be "ok". As I closed the garage door to go inside the house, Officer O charged at me into my garage as the door was closing and yelled “I’m not playing any games with you.” I asked him “what was he doing” and that he “needed to tone his voice down and I was going inside and complying with his request.” Officer O then forcefully detained me even though there was no connection to any crimes being committed. My girlfriend came outside and Officer O conducted a search of the property. My girlfriend was also detained and searched, however there was no reason to believe a crime had been committed.

I sustained a very small cut from the handcuffs (possibly not a significant injury). There were no illegal substances or any crimes committed and I have never been arrested. We both have motorcycle licences and the motorcycle is registered and insured.

Did the police have probable cause to forcefully detain me and search the house without a warrant?

Why did you need to close the garage door before fetching your girlfriend from the house? That is what likely triggered things.

 

[jaredh916]

Why did you need to close the garage door before fetching your girlfriend from the house? That is what likely triggered things.

I always close the garage door when I go inside the house. I understand that is what could have triggered things, but I wasn't even a person involved in the incident and told the officer I was going to comply with his request. He wasn't investigating a crime, so I'm not sure why I would be under suspicion of committing a crime.

 

[HighwayMan]

...Officer O conducted a search of the property.

What exactly does that mean?

 

[jaredh916]

What exactly does that mean?

He went inside the house and conducted a search.

 

[HighwayMan]

So he ripped all the dresser drawers out, rummaged through every closet, etc?

 

[jaredh916]

So he ripped all the dresser drawers out, rummaged through every closet, etc?

I don't think he went through everything as most of my possessions were intact.

 

[Mass_Shyster]

The Fourth Amendment protects again UNREASONABLE searches and seizures.

You can certainly sue, but if a court finds if the search was reasonable, it would not be a violation of your rights. If a court finds the search was unreasonable, you would be entitled to damages, and probably legal fees.

If does not sound like the injury to your wrist involved any medical treatment, so damages would probably be nominal.

But, you can certainly try, and if you're successful, you're lawyer will collect a nice payday.

 

[Zigner]

He wasn't investigating a crime...

At that point, he was investigating to see if a crime had occurred.

 

[justalayman]

Why did you need to close the garage door before fetching your girlfriend from the house? That is what likely triggered things.

Why does it matter? It was within his rights to close the door.

 

[justalayman]

At that point, he was investigating to see if a crime had occurred.

He must have probable cause to conduct a search. That means he doesn’t get to go look for a possible crime. He must have reasonable cause to believe a crime has been committed and that the search would like reveal some evidence pertaining to the crime. In addition to search without a warrant he must be able to articulate exigent circumstances.

 

[Zigner]

He must have probable cause to conduct a search. That means he doesn’t get to go look for a possible crime. He must have reasonable cause to believe a crime has been committed and that the search would like reveal some evidence pertaining to the crime.

You mean, like a single vehicle accident wherein the driver has retreated inside the house and the OP obstructed the investigation?