If you’re walking down the street one day minding your own business, and the police stop and search you, they might find something illegal. However, if they did not have probable cause to search you, what can you do about it? Far too few individuals know their rights in these situations.
Protecting your rights after an unlawful search becomes paramount. You’ll need a competent lawyer’s help, but fighting the system seldom proves easy. Let’s talk about these situations in more detail right now.
What Does the Term “Bad Search” Mean?
For most people, a “bad search” means a situation where the police check to see what you’re carrying when you haven’t done anything wrong. Most people don’t realize this, but if the police stop you and say they want to search you, they can’t do that without a warrant unless they have probable cause.
Probable cause means they think you might have something illegal on you. They might claim they saw you make a furtive movement. Perhaps you put something in your pocket hurriedly when you saw the police nearby. They might also say you fit a suspect’s description who committed a crime in the area.
The police commonly use these tactics. However, many citizens don’t realize they can refuse a search. If they do, the police must get that warrant before they check your pockets or look elsewhere on your person.
When Can the Police Search You Without a Warrant?
You should also know the police can search you without a warrant in some instances. For example, if the police catch you crossing the border into the country illegally or you’re crossing legally and approaching a border checkpoint, they can search you. If you’re a prisoner already, they can search you at any time.
If you’re on probation, they can search you at any time. If they’re searching your workplace because of suspected criminality, that does not require a warrant.
What Can a Lawyer Do on Your Behalf?
If you feel that the police did not search you legally, especially if they found contraband and you’re facing criminal penalties for that reason, getting a lawyer isn’t really optional. Unless you know the law very well, you need someone who can argue on your behalf.
The lawyer, if they’re any good, can challenge the search. If they do so successfully, you might escape criminal charges, even if the police did find something illegal on you.
A lawyer might question the search warrant’s legality if they can find cause to do so. They may also find something improper or unusual in the circumstances surrounding the search. They might also challenge whether the evidence the police found comes from you or whether they planted it. Such situations do happen sometimes. Dashboard cameras, traffic cameras, and even police body cameras sometimes reveal this behavior.
The Fourth Amendment
The Fourth Constitutional Amendment states that the police can’t search individuals and seize evidence from them unreasonably. In other words, they can’t do so without probable cause. The police know this, but if they strongly suspect you have something illegal on you, they might stretch the law in various ways. Often, they’re hoping the person they detain doesn’t know the law and what it allows and disallows.
If you hire a lawyer following what you consider a bad police search, you should make sure that they know all about the Fourth Amendment. If they don’t know about it, or if they have not handled cases like this before, they probably can’t help you very much.
A lawyer who’s new or doesn’t handle this kind of case very often can easily make a mistake. If that happens, even if the police didn’t search you legally, you might still face criminal charges if your lawyer can’t argue persuasively on your behalf.
We should emphasize at this point that most police follow the law and won’t search you illegally. However, there’s a disproportionate power balance between the police and ordinary citizens. Just because the police swear they’ll uphold the law, that doesn’t mean they’ll always do it. They’re not infallible. They’re human, just like anyone else.
If you feel certain that you endured a bad search, and you’re now facing legal trouble, getting the right lawyer can change your life. Instead of jail time, you could walk free. That’s why you must carefully research the lawyer you choose and ask them the right questions before your court date.
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