Tag Archive: Search warrant


YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO STAY OUT OF JAIL

 

 

know-your-rights

3 Levels of police/citizen encounters

● Consensual – casual conversation 
○ Evidence level required – Zero
○ Freedom to leave – yes
○ ID required – no
○ Legal search – plain sight or consensual
○ Example: Officer knocks on door to ask if you saw anything

● Investigative Detention- Temporary detainment for further info.
○ Evidence level required – Reasonable Articulable Suspicion
■ Visible paraphernalia (Ziplocks, rolling papers, pipes)
■ Tools for B&E (Crowbar, slim jim, weapons)
■ Profiling (Paper tag, DARE/Police decals, College attire, Gangster attire)
○ Freedom to leave – no (approx. 15-20 minute max)
○ ID required – not in 26 states (exception: you’re a driver)

○ Legal search: frisk, plain sight, or consensual
○ Example: Officer sees you wearing a ski mask at night.
● Arrest – Taken into police custody
○ Evidence level required – Probable Cause or warrant
○ Freedom to leave – no
○ ID required – yes
○ Legal search: frisk, plain sight, consensual, or warrant
○ Example: Officer catches you breaking and entering “

 

 

 

Learn more here 

Cops: “If We Have To Get A Warrant…We’re Gonna Shoot And Kill Your Dogs”

 

 

 

 

” Eric Crinnian, an attorney in Kansas City, Missouri, says police came to his door looking for parole violators, and got upset when he refused them permission to tramp through his house and paw through his possessions. In fact, he claims, one cop went so far as to threaten to shoot his dogs if he made them abide by the requirements of the law by getting a search warrant to look through his home. Remarkably, a criminal justice professor says the police actions may not be illegal, though they could be awkward in court.”

  Then he said one police officer started threatening him saying, “If we have to get a warrant, we’re going to come back when you’re not expecting it, we’re going to park in front of your house, where all your neighbors can see, we’re gonna bust in your door with a battering ram, we’re gonna shoot and kill your dogs, who are my family, and then we’re going to ransack your house looking for these people.” “

 

It gets even worse …

” But Missouri has a statute that defines a “credible threat…against the life of, or a threat to cause physical injury to, or the kidnapping of, the person, the person’s family, or the person’s household members or domestic animals or livestock” as aggravated stalking and might fit the bill in this situation. However, that law explicitly exempts law enforcement officers “conducting investigations of violation of federal, state, county, or municipal law,” which is more than a little disturbing.

  Really? It’s OK to threaten people’s lives, their family, and their pets if you’re a cop? “

 

   When did the average cops go from being friends and part of the neighborhood , welcomed by all , to bullying storm troopers who represent overbearing State intimidation and coercion ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 On Your Side Reveals Another Traffic Stop Nightmare

 

   A reader sent us a comment pointing us to this new story that , unfortunately , mirrors the nightmare of David Eckert at the hands of New Mexico police . It appears that a Mr Timothy Young was subjected to the same obscene invasions of privacy at the same Gila Regional Medical Center for failure to signal . 4 On Your Side continues :

 

 

 

” Police reports state deputies stopped Timothy Young because he turned without putting his blinker on.

Again, Leo the K-9 alerts on Young’s seat.

Young is taken to the Gila Regional Medical Center in Silver City, and just like Eckert, he’s subjected to medical procedures including x-rays of his stomach and an anal exam.

Again, police found nothing, and again the procedures were done without consent, and in a county not covered by the search warrant.

We’ve learned more about that drug dog, Leo, that seems to get it wrong pretty often. He might be getting it wrong because he’s not even certified in New Mexico.

Again, police found nothing, and again the procedures were done without consent, and in a county not covered by the search warrant.”

 

Read On

 

 

    Not much is appearing in the press about these horror stories beyond the reporting we have linked to , blogs and the RT site linked below . Leave it to the Russian press to be needed to inform Americans about their Police state .

More terrorized drivers report forceful rectal inspections by New Mexico police

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Armed Agents Seize Records Of Reporter, Washington Times Prepares Legal Action

 

 

” Maryland state police and federal agents used a search warrant in an unrelated criminal investigation to seize the private reporting files of an award-winning former investigative journalist for The Washington Times who had exposed problems in the Homeland Security Department’s Federal Air Marshal Service.

Reporter Audrey Hudson said the investigators, who included an agent for Homeland’s Coast Guard service, took her private notes and government documents that she had obtained under the Freedom of Information Act during a predawn raid of her family home on Aug. 6.

The documents, some which chronicled her sources and her work at the Times about problems inside the Homeland Security Department, were seized under a warrant to search for unregistered firearms and a “potato gun” suspected of belonging to her husband, Paul Flanagan, a Coast Guard employee. Mr. Flanagan has not been charged with any wrongdoing since the raid.

The warrant, obtained by the Times, offered no specific permission to seize reporting notes or files.

The Washington Times said Friday it is preparing legal action to fight what it called an unwarranted intrusion on the First Amendment.”

    We posted about this blatant , illegal fishing expedition yesterday . This piece offers considerably more detail than was available yesterday , including the fact the Mr Flanagan has been arrested on “gun charges” more than once  , but more importantly , that Ms Hudson has been the cause of numerous governmental investigations and much embarrassment over the course of her career in DC . She is certainly an enemy of the State .

 

 

” Mrs. Hudson has been a reporter in Washington, D.C. for nearly 15 years, and covered Homeland Security for the Times after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks through December 2009.

Her investigations have sparked numerous congressional investigations that led to laws signed by former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. She has won numerous journalism awards for her investigations, including the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi bronze medal for public service, the Society of Professional Journalists Dateline Award in Investigative Reporting, and was nominated twice by The Times for the Pulitzer Prize.”

 

 

Another battle in the war on whistleblowers/journalists is enjoined.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feds Confiscate Investigative Reporter’s Confidential Files During Raid

” A veteran Washington D.C. investigative journalist says the Department of Homeland Security confiscated a stack of her confidential files during a raid of her home in August — leading her to fear that a number of her sources inside the federal government have now been exposed.

In an interview with The Daily Caller, journalist Audrey Hudson revealed that the Department of Homeland Security and Maryland State Police were involved in a predawn raid of her Shady Side, Md. home on Aug. 6. Hudson is a former Washington Times reporter and current freelance reporter.

A search warrant obtained by TheDC indicates that the August raid allowed law enforcement to search for firearms inside her home.”

The document notes that her husband, Paul Flanagan, was found guilty in 1986 to resisting arrest in Prince George’s County. The warrant called for police to search the residence they share and seize all weapons and ammunition because he is prohibited under the law from possessing firearms.”

    A resisting arrest conviction is a felony ? Upon further investigation Youviewed has found what we believe to be the case involving Audrey Hudson’s husband . It dates from 1985 and the original charges included DEADLY WEAPON-CONCEAL which was dismissed(nolle prosequi) , ASSAULT(found not guilty) , RESISTING ARREST(guilty) for which he was sentenced to three years probation , and CDS:POSSESS-NOT MARIHUANA(not guilty) so wherein lies the prohibition of the ownership of firearms ?

2010 Maryland Code

CRIMINAL LAW
TITLE 9 – CRIMES AGAINST PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Subtitle 4 – Harboring, Escape, and Contraband
Section 9-408 – Resisting or interfering with arrest.

§ 9-408. Resisting or interfering with arrest.
 

(a)  “Police officer” defined.- In this section, “police officer” means an individual who is authorized to make an arrest under Title 2 of the Criminal Procedure Article. 

(b)  Prohibited.- A person may not intentionally: 

(1) resist a lawful arrest; or 

(2) interfere with an individual who the person has reason to know is a police officer who is making or attempting to make a lawful arrest or detention of another person. 

(c)  Penalty.- A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 3 years or a fine not exceeding $5,000 or both. 

(d)  Unit of prosecution.- The unit of prosecution for a violation of this section is based on the arrest or detention regardless of the number of police officers involved in the arrest or detention. 

   The above would seem to suggest that “resisting arrest” in Maryland is a misdemeanor , albeit one with some stiff penalties , but it was always our understanding of the law that to lose one’s right to firearms possession one needed to be a convicted felon .

   According to court documents Flanagan was convicted of “resisting arrest” CJIS code# 1 4801 . In combing through the Maryland Guidelines Offense Table which describes resisting as part of the Harboring , Escape & Contraband section we could find no CJIS code that matches the above . However , all of the Harboring & Escape offenses are listed as misdemeanors with the exception of three , none of which carries the CJIS code 1 4801. The closest match that we could find is :

(196) Harboring, Escape, and Contraband / Resisting or interfering with arrest / 1-0600  /CR, §9-408 / Misd.  / 3Y Person / VI / $5,000

    As you can see the CJIS # for “resisting arrest” according to the sentencing guidelines is 1-0600 and is classified as a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of three years in jail and a fine of $5000 . Unless we are missing something here we fail to see why Mr Flanagan lost his right to possess firearms . Of course we must add a caveat in that we cannot be sure that we have the correct Paul Flanagan and the right arrest .

” But without Hudson’s knowledge, the agents also confiscated a batch of documents that contained information about sources inside the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration, she said.”

And what of the 4th Amendment ? Which reads:

” The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

   Regardless of the potentially dubious basis for the issuance of the search warrant , the seizure of Ms Hudson’s personal papers are a blatant violation of her 4th amendment rights seeing as the warrant was approved for the sole purpose of searching for “illegally” possessed firearms and nothing more .

” Outraged over the seizure, Hudson is now speaking out. She said no subpoena for the notes was presented during the raid and argues the confiscation was outside of the search warrant’s parameter.

“They took my notes without my knowledge and without legal authority to do so,” Hudson said this week. “The search warrant they presented said nothing about walking out of here with a single sheet of paper.”

She provided TheDC with a photo showing the stack of file folders in a bag marked “evidence/property.”

Statism , Thy Name Is The US Government

Another Republican-Supporting Business Raided: Suspicion of Using Mongolian Wood

 

 

 

” Thursday, Federal agents raided Lumber Liquidators. Lumber Liquidators advertises heavily on The Rush Limbaugh Show and even put in the flooring for one of Rush’s studios.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports:

 Agents from the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of Justice executed the search warrant at the company’s headquarters and plant near Williamsburg, said Brandon Montgomery, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Official: Holder Approved Warrant For Fox News Reporter’s Emails

 

 

 

” A law enforcement official has told NBC News that Attorney General Eric Holder is the one who signed the search warrant for the private emails of Fox News reporter James Rosen. The warrant was signed under the guise that Rosen might be a “possible co-conspirator” in violation of the Espionage Act.”

 

 

 

 

 

Learn When Police Officers Must Obtain A Warrant Before They Search Your Home Or Other Property.

 

 

 

 

” A search warrant is an order signed by a judge that authorizes police officers to search for specific objects or materials at a definite location at a specified time. For example, a warrant may authorize the search of “the premises at 11359 Happy Glade Avenue between the hours of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.” and direct the police to search for and seize “cash, betting slips, record books, and every other means used in connection with placing bets on horses.” “

 

 

 

Topics covered by this brief include :

 

How Police Obtain Search Warrants

What Police Can Search for and Seize Under a Warrant

When Search Warrants Aren’t Required

Consent Searches

The Plain View Doctrine

Search Made in Connection With an Arrest

The Emergency Exception

Allowing Police to Make a Warrantless Search

Searches of Cars and Their Occupants

For More Information

 

Know your rights , be informed .

 

” To answer all your questions about the legality of various police searches and seizures, get The Criminal Law Handbook: Know Your Rights, Survive the System, by Paul Bergman and Sara J. Berman (Nolo). If you need a criminal defense lawyer, you can turn to Nolo’s trusted Lawyer Directory to find an attorney near you.

For more free information on search warrants, check out Nolo’s section on Search Warrants.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Connecticut Massacre Records Secret, Media Seek Access

 

 

 

 

 

” The shooter is dead and the prosecutor handling the case has said he does not expect any charges.

Yet authorities are continuing to keep search warrants and police records secret. Media outlets have pressed for the release of more records, which could shed light on a crime that has revived the national debate over gun control and could change the way guns are regulated.

News media advocates say the records should be unsealed, arguing the public has a right to see such records, which include what was found in the house and car. They say records may be sealed only when an investigation would be hurt by disclosure.

“There seems to be absolutely no reason that they would need to. It’s not going to jeopardize the case in any way,” said Linda Petersen, chairwoman of the Freedom of Information Committee of the Society of Professional Journalists.”

 

Warrantless Searches Proposed — for Third Time — by WA Democrats

 

 

 

” Cut to Washington State: in this case, liberal Democrats in the legislature have introduced an assault weapon ban that includes annual inspections of the homes of people that already own assault weapons to make sure that they are being safely stored.

There is no need for a warrant; there is no probable cause requirement; and the Seattle Times columnist writing about this clearly unconstitutional law observes that the sponsors include “Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, a lawyer who typically is hyper-attuned to civil-liberties issues.”

After a stream of criticism, the author withdrew the warrantless search section of the bill, calling it a “mistake.” Yet, as Bryan Preston points out, the warrantless search section – word for word — was included in bills by Kline in 2009 and 2005.

Mistake? I think he was just finally caught and called out this time.

What makes this especially outrageous: not only are they ignoring the Fourth Amendment’s guarantee regarding warrantless searches and the Second Amendment’s guarantee of the right to bear arms, but also the Washington State Constitution’s guarantee of the right to bear arms.

Before liberals attempt to defend not only warrantless searches but also to claim that “assault weapons” are not protected: the Supreme Court of the State of Washington has recognized by name the AR-15 as a constitutionally protected arm.

The case was an ugly one: State v. Rupe (Washington, 1984). The defendant was convicted of murdering the two women who worked at a branch office of Tumwater State Bank. Rupe had left his bloodstained checkbook on the counter in the midst of the robbery, and was convicted on a combination of evidence including testimony of conspirators. No, Rupe did not use an AR-15; he used a revolver. So how did an AR-15 end up in this case? “

 

 

 

 

 

 

SCOTUS Approves Search Warrants Issued By Dogs

 

 

 

 

 

” Today the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that “a court can presume” an alert by a drug-sniffing dog provides probable cause for a search “if a bona fide organization has certified a dog after testing his reliability in a controlled setting” or “if the dog has recently and successfully completed a training program that evaluated his proficiency in locating drugs.” The justices overturned a 2011 decision in which the Florida Supreme Court said police must do more than assert that a dog has been properly trained.”

 

 

   This is bad … a statist tool driving another nail through the heart of liberty , due process and the rule of law . Since dogs can’t testify under oath , we are taking the officer’s word that the ” trained” dog’s reactions were reason enough to do a physical search on the spot . That is nothing less than a carte blanche invitation for the police to search at will as long as they have a dog along to issue the warrant . Christ almighty where are we going ? A unanimous decision ? Unanimous ?

 

And make no mistake , the issue here is not the reliability of the dogs .

DHS Raids Gun Collector – Confiscates Nearly 1,500 Guns – No Charges Filed

Feds pull aresnal of weapons from home

” On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security, along with a SWAT team and Bernalillo County sheriff’s deputies raided the home of Robert Adams in Albuquerque, New Mexico and, according to a federal search warrant affidavit the raid seized nearly 1,500 firearms from the man’s home and business. However, no charges have been filed against him, despite the fact that court documents reveal that agents had been watching Adams for years.

By Wednesday afternoon dozens of rifles were hauled out of the house, bagged as evidence and laid out on the lawn.

According to search warrants that were filed on Thursday Homeland Security Investigations confiscated nearly 900 firearms from Adams’ home, 548 handguns and 317 rifles. They also seized 599 pistols and revolvers from his office.”