Felony convictions vs search & seizure

[Maggie]

Here is a hypothetical situation:

A person has two felony convictions - drug related - from approximately 20 years ago. The person is not presently under any continuing court imposed sanctions (e.g. parole). Can LEO enter his residence - sans warrant - and conduct a search without probable cause?

This person indicated to me that his status as a convicted felon means that he has to submit to searches any time that LEO wishes without the LEO having either a warrant or probable cause. Person resides in the US.

Thanks for any & all input.

Maggie

 

[trouble]

Here is a hypothetical situation:

A person has two felony convictions - drug related - from approximately 20 years ago. The person is not presently under any continuing court imposed sanctions (e.g. parole). Can LEO enter his residence - sans warrant - and conduct a search without probable cause?

This person indicated to me that his status as a convicted felon means that he has to submit to searches any time that LEO wishes without the LEO having either a warrant or probable cause. Person resides in the US.

Thanks for any & all input.

Maggie

I would think the laws may vary state to state, however, I dont see how any state can do this if the person is not on parole. It doesn't sound right to me, then again, nothing LEO does would surprises me.


.....

 

[Guest]

No, that is double jeopardy. That person has paid their debt to society. If he's in a jail cell, that's one thing, but if he's a free man, they have no legal authority to overthrow his constitutional rights based on prior (paid for) convictions.

 

[CCronik]

As long as he isnt on parole or probation then they cannot search his home or personal property without probable cause. Im pretty sure the only right you give up when you commit a felony is the right to bare arms.

 

[Guest]

As long as he isnt on parole or probation then they cannot search his home or personal property without probable cause. Im pretty sure the only right you give up when you commit a felony is the right to bare arms.

And the right to vote!!!!

GCG

 

[Guest]

Haha...says who? Felons have more guns than anyone else, lol.

 

[RED145]

Not sure what they are,but as a convicted felon,you lose alot more than your guns and voting rights,definately not the kind of hypothetical situation I would want to be in,good luck.

 

[Grat3fulh3ad]

I vote... I own a gun... Afaik no-one has the right to enter my home without a warrant... I've been pulled over several times over traffic violations without being either searched or detained over the course of the past 13 or so years...


I cannot, however get into Canada... :wink:

 

[Paco]

well i hope this person isn't in the south... the popo seem like they can do anything just as long as the ends justify the means.
paco

 

[Verite]

Theres no law stating convicted felons are forced to give up their 4th amendment rights to illegal search and seizure. LEO is still required to get a warrant. Previous convictions are not grounds for probable cause either.

 

[d4.]

Your rights are ALWAYS protected by your constitution.

 

[JJScorpio]

I vote... I own a gun... Afaik no-one has the right to enter my home without a warrant... I've been pulled over several times over traffic violations without being either searched or detained over the course of the past 13 or so years...


I cannot, however get into Canada... :wink:

Someday I'll have to tell you the story about trying to get into Canada, lol. After about three hours, they pointed back towards the States, told me to not come back and if I did it would be at least a year before I saw American soil again. Those are some rude hyper people. They were nice enough to give me the address to apply along with a 600 dollar application charge....

The answer to this thread? I know of no States that have any laws where the police can just enter your home. There could be instances where it may be part of someones plea on a sex crimes conviction though. Why would you be asking this question. If I had 2 strikes I would run if someone were committing a felony.

 

[Depths Of OG]

No, that is double jeopardy. That person has paid their debt to society. If he's in a jail cell, that's one thing, but if he's a free man, they have no legal authority to overthrow his constitutional rights based on prior (paid for) convictions.

Lol, this made me laugh. This is not even remotely close to having anything to do with double jeopardy, but I appreciate the effort. Your general message is correct. Unless you are under some sort of supervised release, they can not just show up and search your house. Prior convictions mean absolutely nothing in this instance. Your fine

 

[yamaha_1fan]

I can vouch for this. I am a bad boy, convicted of felonies 10 years apart. The second time required a search warrant. I cant vote or get a gun (probably a good thing), but LEO does not have the right to enter my house w/o a warrant.

And being on probation/parole does not mean they can come kick down your door anytime they want either. They may be able to come inside and talk to you and look around, but as far as opening closets and going through dressers, I doubt it unless you are on specific drug probation.

My PO would come to my house to make sure I was home by my curfew, and see that big Pit Bull come to the window. I asked if he wanted to come in and he said hell no and went back to his car. This happened 3 times in 2 months before I got off supervision. LOL

 

[Maggie]

Thanks to all for the entertaining & informative responses. This place rocks

Maggie

 

[Guest]

In my state the right to vote is restricted until the sentance has been served. Serve your time, pay your fines, serve out your paroleprobation and you're set to vote.

 

[facelift]

I've never been busted for drugs, but have 2 felony convictions from 1985 and 1989. Just because you broke the law some years ago doesn't give the cops reasonable cause to search you, your car, or your house. I don't know about parolees. I've never been on parole. I was given probation twice. There may be laws thank allow people on parole to be searched for the hell of it. Someone who's been there needs to chime in.

From my experience, if you have any felonies from way back, you may get asked odd questions, like when was the last time you were busted, or when was the last time you were in jail. For me a traffic stop generally ends up at the police station. I can;t say why, I just think the cops in this area are, well, assholes.

The last time I had a traffic violation, I ended up serving 28 days in jail for some other guy named facelift. This was back in 2003 after running a stop sign and delivering a pizza. This my blow my ID, but since I'm only covorting, sorry for the spelling, and not culitvating, I've broken no laws that I know of.

So I ran a stop sign and didn;t have my ID on me, it was later retrieve at the pizza joint I was working for, the cops took me to the station and filled out an affidavit saying I was "facelift" of Town A, instead of "facelift" from town Z. The judge issued an I-Bond, and the sheriff held me in jail.

Moving along.....

I was eventually released and all the charges dropped. I filed a complaint and the judge sent it to arbitration. I found a lawyer like the next day. He's been on it for 2 years, and in August 2007, I was awarded $60,000.00. 30K against the Police for false arrest and false imprisonment, and 30K against the sheriff for contempt of court. The sheriff denied my due process when he failed to bring me before a judge. It's part of every warrant hold.

Recently, my lawyer told me that the police and sheriff filed a rejection notice on the award, and he is now preparing for trial. I don't get it. And I'm not about to fill a second page explaining arbitration, what it was invented for, but in my opinion, and my lawyer agrees the defendants are wasting the court's time. The court already ruled in my favor by sending it to arbitration 2 times. The arbitration panel ruled in my favor and that was a panel of 3 judges.

What am I looking at? $60,000.00 plus costs and lawyers fees. What is the lawyer asking for 10K per day plus lost income, destroyed vehicle and costs and lawyers fees. For a total of inxs of $280,000.00 plus costs. When will this be over? 1% of the cases where an award was issued at arbitration ever make it to trial. I'm hoping the info I read is correct, this baby should be history in about 169 days.

Back on topic. Just because you have a long past history doesn't give probable cause to the cops to do whatever it is they want to do. If your rights have been violated get a lawyer. If you can't find one, File your own complaint. It's easy to do, and in most cases free of charge.

How did my wallet, ID and Driver's License wind up at the pizza joint? According to my mom who answered in court, the cops dropped it off. No lie....

 

[facelift]

I feel like ranting and this is as good a place as any. Not to take anything away from the thread starter. You can see by my join date, that this has nothing to do with me being a member of the web site. Or any conversations, threads, posts, actions or communications. The whole thing has to do with a bad police department, a cop who felt disrespected, a plaintiff who ran a stop sign and proceeded to get out of his car to deliver a pizza in sight of a parked police car, and a sheriff who failed to follow the orders of the court.

I've been blamed by the state's attorney and corporate counsel of giving a wrong name, and wrong DOB, lying about my address. It just so happens that the DOB they said I gave, was the same DOB of someone with a similar name. The odds of someone ripping out a DOB that is owned by a person of the same name has to be a million to one. I love my DOB and my SSN, and I would never lie about them, and it's nearly impossible to make up a valid SSN, let alone one owned by a person with a similar name.

Not only have I been blamed for the cops and sheriff answers by giving false information, and not standing up to point out that the sheriff is making a mistake by holding me, the State's attorney actually called to talk to my mom, and further accused me of not co operating with negotiations. They are wrong to do so. I had agreed to take 50K, the check never came, I found a lawyer, and have since been awarded more.

On the night of the arrest I didn;t have my license or ID on me person. It was in the car. The police handcuffed me and put me into the back of a police car that can be described as a K-9. The back seat had been replaced with a 4x8 making it impossible for a person to sit upright safely without his or her head being pressed sideways against the roof of the car. If the city has 20,000 police cars, how did I get this one? It the cop so deranged that on his shift he chose the one car car not meant for transporting people, or was it the car he was given. You need to ask yourself, which car am I going to get? An unadulterated car suitable for transporting people, or an 80's version of a K-9? Another apt question is why is that murderer being carried in a "normal" police car, and I'm stuffed into some "experimental" modified vehicle when all I did was run a stop sign?

On the affidavit, prior to taking my prints and picture, the cops had filled out this piece of paper which stated beyond any reasonable doubt that I ws the person wanted on the warrant. This meant that they had compared pictures, tattoos, DOB's SSN, and fingerprints. And all the information they obtained indicated that I was the suspect. What really happened was that they filed out this affidavit knowingly and willingly using false information, and in my lawyers own words, "made it appear that the plaintiff was the person wanted on the warrant".

The above paragraph is very important if you are going to fight a warranted arrest. The police must have filled out an affidavit using false information, in order for you to state a valid claim. Something I failed to do when I was arguing my complaint for false arrest. It is also an example of a false imprisonment.

The next day I stood before a judge who issued a release on my own with a promise to show for court the following month. It was stapled and attached to the top of the paperwork and sent to processing. While waiting to be released, since I was unaware that there was also a warrant in the stack of paper, the deputy shuffled through the paperwork, saw the warrant AND an order to remand plaintiff in custody. Clearly the deputy has his freedom to look through paperwork and make a determination based on what the paperwork says. However, they do not have the freedom fo paste my picture on to someone else's record. If he does though, some one is bound to get "lost".

The Contempt Of Court Statue states, that the sheriff shall bring the person being held on a warrant from another county before a judge, should the county which issue the warrant fail to take custody of the person being held, by a date written on the court order". That date is usually 72 hours after the order was issued. It's written on every remand order and part of the code of laws in the state where I reside.

Who this came about was that the deputy acted on his freedom to pass judgment on the paperwork. The next deputy instead of taking down my information for the files, like name address, phone number, date of birth, mother's name, tattoos, and all other information needed to make a positive ID, he disregarded everything I said and pasted my picture into the file of someone else who had a similar name and WAS the person wanted on the warrant. This "lost" me in the system. 3 days passed and my case was not on the call, because 72 hours prior, I made a promise to show in court a month later when the JUDGE released my on an I-Bond, so instead of taking me before a judge, and the order and statue states above, the sheriff continued to hold me in jail against the orders of the court.

The above is argued by the state's attorney that it was the Clerk of the Court's fault because she did not place the case on the call. This is a complete fabrication. The Clerk DID place the case on the call when the judge issued an I-Bond. There is also no way possible that the clerk would have prior knowledge that I was being held when a RELEASE was ordered.

To wrap up this rant and to provide a clearer note of information that may help someone in a similar situation. IT"S 100% TRUE.

1. If you are arrested on a warrant, to have a valid claim, the police must knowingly provide false information to the court in the form of an affidavit. They must either, or also file an affidavit when requesting a warrant. It's dependent on the situation. If this happens, and you find that the information used to arrest you on a warrant, or to obtain a warrant for your arrest, is incorrect. The same goes for search warrants. If the apartment number is wrong, you may have a valid claim. Warrant are about specifics, and any information that is incorrect works in your favor.

2. Once you are being held on this warrant, the sheriff has two duties. If you are being held on a warrant from a different county, he must allow you access to a judge within 72 hours of your arrest should the county which issued the warrant not take custody. His second duty is to hold you in jail until your next court date if you are arrested in the same county which issued the warrant.

By the police making false statements in court or on court documents, the police will violate your rights. The sheriff violates can your rights if after 72 hours you are not brought before a judge.

by all means DO NOT lie to the police, and for sure, get a lawyer should you find yourself in trouble.

I hope this answers a few questions on searches and seizures, and is good information should something like this happen to you.

Have a great day!

 

[kmk420kali]

I have spent half my adult life in prison or jail-- I used to do hard drugs (heroin & coke) But that has no bearing on this, as my Parole ended 10 years ago-- I cannot legally EVER own a fire-arm...but my right to vote is restored upon completion of Parole--
I am now on Probation (Summery) for a DUI...that means they can search me, or my residence at any time....by any legal authority--
**** them...I am growing like a Mo-Fo--