Police and warrants?

well his brother was arrested, so I guess this gives them the right to go in his room. Maybe if he was a suspect they'd need a warrant for that.
 
Ahh, thank you
 
well his brother was arrested, so I guess this gives them the right to go in his room. Maybe if he was a suspect they'd need a warrant for that.

I don't think they do have the right. But, as said before, by your father allowing them into the house anything discovered can now be used in court. I am very strict about things like this, not because I am a criminal, but I just don't like police thinking they can do whatever they want.

I would certainly be talking to my defence attorney about the legallity of their search, as if it is deemed illegal all evidence is inadmissible as "fruit of the poison tree".

You still haven't ellaborated on what your brother was arrested for or if they actually found anything in your house.
 
If the police search your home without a warrant or your consent, then doesn't any evidence collected become inadmissible??
 
If the police search your home without a warrant or your consent, then doesn't any evidence collected become inadmissible??

In most cases yes, but they were let in by his parents.
 
Well I have just been discussing this with my brother, who is a criminal lawyer.

The legality of the search depends on the legal system of the country, in this case England, so he is not 100% sure, but different countries have different systems.

The main one that we all know is the system used in America. This requires the police to go to a judge and get a signed specialised warrant to authorise searching of specific areas for items related to specific crimes. They can serve these with or without the owners consent, but they can only search the areas covered in the warrant for items related to the warrant. If anything else is found during the search or in an area no specified by the warrant it is inadmissible in court. Personally I think this is a pretty stupid system. Basically the police could have a warrant to someones search house for drugs, but accidently also search the garden shed, where they find a brick of coke. Technically you could argue that the shed was outside of the realm of the search warrant and thus the brick could not be used in evidence in my trial.

This system is different to the one used in Australia, which is called the "general warrant system", where police officers above a certain rank, not exactly sure what it is, are issued with powers of general warrant, meaning they can legally search anything or anybody for anything related to a crime, with just cause of course. Basically if the police go to raid or search somebody's house they ensure that there is an officer of surficient rank that holds a power of general warrant on site and this allows him to authorise the other officers to conduct the search, regardless of if they have a specific warrant or not, or if they have the consent of the owener or not.

Now as that is the Australian system, which I presume is drawn from the English system, chances are this is how it works in England. So chances are the police did legally search your house and they could have done it regardless of if your parents gave them permission of not.

There are of course also circumstances in England where no warrant is required, these are mainly for searching and detaining individuals or properties suspected to be used in terrorist activities. I am presuming that Hype's brother was not arrested on terrorist charges?

On second thoughts I am pretty sure that is how it works in England. I have several friends who are detectives in the London metro police and they all have "warrant cards" with their badges that give them the power to search or detain people.
 
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Know your rights, protect your rights.

If the police ever come to the door and want to talk, step outside and close the door behind you. If they see anything criminal "in plain view" it's admissible even without a warrant. The same goes for your car, if you are asked to get out of your car close and lock the door behind you, and open door is an open invitation. Cops will sometimes try to tell you that they want to help you but only if you let them look in the car/home. This is not the case, the police are paid to gather evidence to convict a suspect, not to help them, that's why you have a defense attorney. You can refuse to consent to a search and it's ok to tell an officer, "I do not consent to any kind of search" if they ask. Sometimes you will get the question, "Well, since you're not doing anything wrong you won't mind if I take a look." This is the time to say you don't consent.

The same goes for your house, if officers ask to come in then anything they see (even without a search) can be used against you. They don't have the right to enter without a warrant and remind them of that fact.

Know your rights, and don't let anyone intimidate you into giving them up.

No offence Blind_Io but the more you screw with the cops the more they screw with you.
 
So you are going to let them intimidate you into giving up your rights?

If you are within your rights to refuse a search there is nothing they can do. If they search anyway then you can not is anything they find inadmissible in court, but you can file an Internal Affairs complaint and get the ACLU involved.

Cops know the law, and they might not be happy about you denying them a search but there is nothing they can legally do about it. You are within your rights.

My favorite is if you get pulled over and they ask "do you know why I pulled you over today?" That is just fishing for an admission of guilt. If you decide to contest the ticket the cop can show up and say you admitted guilt at the scene. Keep your mouth shut and say as little as possible.

I don't know about you, but I'm not about to give up my rights so easily. Most cops will back off if they see you know the law because they don't want to get sued or have a complaint filed against them.
 
If the police search your home without a warrant or your consent, then doesn't any evidence collected become inadmissible??
Not really in the UK, any evidence, no matter how obtained can be made admissible at the judges discretion.
 
Yeesh, the UK sucks then.
 
My favorite is if you get pulled over and they ask "do you know why I pulled you over today?" That is just fishing for an admission of guilt. If you decide to contest the ticket the cop can show up and say you admitted guilt at the scene. Keep your mouth shut and say as little as possible.

I remember saying this in another thread but this is what my dad taught me after >20 years of driving and countless pullovers, when a cop pulls you over, sometimes he is unsure and just thinks you're speeding or cut a double line..... whatever you do and whatever he asks, do not say I was speeding, or I was doing this... don't admit and don't defend yourself... if he keeps asking you if you were speeding, beat round the bush till he gets annoyed. Why would a cop ask you if you were speeding if he has evidence of it?
 
Some advice, a cop doesn't need a warrant to search you or your car if you are trespassing on private or government property, at least in Canada. This is based on experience, so I don't know if the cop was bullshitting me when I told him he needed a warrant to go through my pockets and car. He said he didn't because I was trespassing, luckily nothing was found.

Another thing, having a clean record is a life saver. I'd imagine it has something to do with probable cause, which is something that I don't entirely understand either.
 
My rule of thumb: don't break the law, that way you have nothing to worry about.
 
My rule of thumb: don't break the law, that way you have nothing to worry about.

Not always true. Perhaps you match the description of a suspect in a crime, perhaps the you don't look like you belong in that particular neighborhood. Whatever the reason is, you have rights and not breaking the law is no guarantee that you wont need to know this some day.

Remember, innocent men have been executed, even after a decade of appeals. Innocent men have been convicted of less.
 
But I'm white. :p





(I don't mean to sound racist, but it's a fact of life.)
 
Besides, the ACLU can't get involved in England.
AMERICAN Civil Liberties Union.
 
ok, well i just got my house searched by the police.. one of my parents let them in, but apparntly they dint have warrants(my dad asked and they said they dint need them).
Sounds like they lied.

AFAIK, they need either a warrant or probable cause to search a home. Unless they smelled, saw or heard something suspect, I don't they they had any right to search your home. Of course, I don't know what's law in England, but that, I think, is how it works in general.
 
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