A lot of evidence that’s seized and used to obtain a conviction comes from police searches. Generally, law enforcement officers are required to have a valid search warrant, signed off on by a judge, prior to executing a search of your car, home or business. Yet, there are several exceptions to the warrant requirement that the police rely upon to execute searches in the heat of the moment.
This includes searches incident to arrest, searches to seize contraband that’s in plain sight and searches that are conducted under exigent circumstances. These exceptions to the warrant requirement give law enforcement a lot of latitude in how they carry out their duties and gather evidence of criminal wrongdoing.
Yet, the men and women who serve in the police aren’t infallible. They’re human. They make mistakes. And when they do, these search-related mistakes can jeopardize and sometimes ultimately derail the prosecution’s case. If you’ve been charged with criminal wrongdoing, then you need to look for these errors so that you can use them to your advantage.
Warrant and search mistakes to look for in your criminal case
Search-related errors are made rather frequently. Yet, the onus is on you to point out these mistakes, otherwise they’ll fly under the radar and could lead to what is otherwise an avoidable conviction. So, as you analyze the facts of your case, be sure to keep an eye out for these mistakes that you might be able to use to build your criminal defense strategy:
- A search was conducted beyond the warrant’s scope: A validly executed search warrant should specify the area to be searched. If the police go beyond the scope of the warrant, then your Constitutional right to be free from an unreasonable search and seizure has been violated. As a result, you might be able to suppress any subsequently seized evidence from being used against you in court.
- A warrant exception was misapplied: Although there are several exceptions to the warrant requirements, certain rules have to be followed before they can be used. All too often, though, mistakes are unwittingly made, which can lead to misapplication of a warrant requirement in a way that violates your rights. If this happens, you need to highlight how the misapplication has negatively impacted you.
- Facts are misconstrued to obtain a search warrant: A search warrant should only issue after a finding of probable cause based on the facts and evidence known to the warrant applicant. Sometimes, though, facts are exaggerated or misstated in hopes of convincing a judge to sign off on a warrant. If you can show that this has occurred in your case, then you may be able to successfully demonstrate that the warrant was illegally obtained.
- Evidence was improperly handled: When the prosecution tries to admit physical evidence against you, they must provide reasonable assurances that the evidence is what they claim it to be. If there are issues with how the evidence was collected, transported and stored, then you may be able to raise enough suspicion to block that evidence from being used against you.
Don’t mistakes in the search and seizure process lead to your conviction
There are a lot of errors that can occur during a criminal investigation. If you’re not careful in how you navigate your criminal defense, then you could end up convicted based on those investigatory mistakes. You don’t want that to happen, which is why it’s crucial that you scrutinize every aspect of your case to determine where the prosecution is vulnerable to attack. By doing so, you’ll hopefully devise a criminal defense strategy that positions you well to obtain the outcome that you want.