USA - How does a arrest warrent differ from search warrent?

[fnord]

Sorry i couldn't really think of a better title..

so a friend of mine has an arrest warrent for an unpaid fine,what hes wondering is if the cops come and knock on his door and a roommate answers the door saying(honestly) that he wasn't there do the police have the right to search the house for him?

[old hippie 56]

Beg to differ, but a cop would play hell getting into swim house without a search warrant.

[fnord]

Can you explain further OH,any links to relevant info would be awesome.

[old hippie 56]

http://law.onecle.com/constitution/a...-warrants.html

Although for purposes of execution, as for many other matters, there is little difference between search warrants and arrest warrants, one notable difference is that the possession of a valid arrest warrant cannot authorize authorities to enter the home of a third party looking for the person named in the warrant; in order to do that, they need a search warrant signifying that a magistrate has determined that there is probable cause to believe the person named is on the premises.

Reputation Comments on this post:

thanks,interesting

[fnord]

one notable difference is that the possession of a valid arrest warrant cannot authorize authorities to enter the home of a third party looking for the person named in the warrant;

What if the house isnt that of a 3rd party? Ill explain a little more:

Stalin and jiggleypuff live together, jigglypuff has a arrest warrant if the police show up and jiggly says "Sorry occifer, stalin is out of town this week bothering some peasents in the countryside. May i interest you in some lititure on LEAP?" and if jigglyouff refused to open the door for a heavily armed stranger would the stranger then kick jigglys door down.

And more importantly will anything found in the house be admissible as evidence?

[old hippie 56]

Originally Posted by fnord

And more importantly will anything found in the house be admissible as evidence?

Swim remembers from long ago, a couple of Dept. of Public Safety officers(Rangers) knocked on swim door. They was looking for a shady character who supposedly holed up in swims little bitty apartment. Swim invited them in, forgetting about a certain item sitting on the table that is used in the enjoyment of certain green leafy substances. They just told him to put that out of sight and everything would be fine.
As for your rank and file officers of the law, they might hassle a person over something illegal, but swim thinks it wouldn't pass muster in a courtroom.

[Police Officer]

I would be more concerned about being charged with harboring a fugitive.

Normally, the Police will not go to someone's house looking for a person who has a warrant unless they really want that person. We generally have better shit to do and get more than enough warrant arrests on traffic stops and shit like that.

So, with all that said...if the Police are wanting to see someone bad enough that they come to your house, and then you lie to them and they find out (and we always find out), then you could expect to have to face the man for a harboring beef.

So tell your buddy its his own damn fault and he was going to get caught eventually anyway. It may not be a popular decision, but its the correct one.

[fnord]

From grandma:

Well the cops came and were tunred away at the door,the fact that grandma refused to open the door for the police caused a massive amount of suspision and the cop tryed to argue his way in with failed logic not understanding grandmas desire to not allow armed strangers into her house,She offered him enterence if he removed his shoes all wepons and acted like a cival person while inside ~He refused Instead he sat out in the parking lot runing names and license plates and harrasing neihbors, he told one neihbor "im going to sit out here untill someone comes out, some little fellon basicly just told me to fuck off and now he has my curiosity" asked neihbors on both sides if siwy was a marrijuana grower,and if they had ever noticed weird smells lots of people comming over, ETC,all neihbors said that i wasnet a pot grower and was a really nice and polite guy. all the neihbors are close friends and none are found of cops Anyways after the cops left swiys roomate hoped out of the glowing closet he was hiding in went out and got the 900$ for the fine relly quick and paid it the next day.

Originally Posted by Police Officer

Normally, the Police will not go to someone's house looking for a person who has a warrant unless they really want that person. We generally have better shit to do and get more than enough warrant arrests on traffic stops and shit like that.

Yes that would be true if i lived in an area with actuall crime or a decent amount of people,but when you live in a back woods town with nothing around it gives the cops all kinds of time to harrass and bother people,SWIYS roomate had a warrent for an unpaid fine. 1 1/2 month late when they came for him.

So, with all that said...if the Police are wanting to see someone bad enough that they come to your house, and then you lie to them and they find out (and we always find out)

Im saying this in as unoffensive way as possible: No you dont. That would be impossible unless this was 1984 and you were actually a thought police officer.

Wait a minute....

[Police Officer]

Originally Posted by Spyder

Back on topic: Just to confirm swiS's understanding: If a warrent is out for someones arrest, the cops CANNOT enter the residence to get them? Assuming that the residence is on paper someone else's??

I will do my best to find the appropriate Supreme Court case that applies to this. Give me a day or so. Good question. If I forget and dont post in a few days then please send me a pm reminding me.

Originally Posted by purplehaze

Phaze has a similiar story that may help out....The cops couldn't do anything about the meth or the foil or shit because the warrant they had was signed to look for the fugitive. Anything else that isn't defined by the warrant would get thrown out in court and would have to be a seperate warrant declaring that the premise be searched for X drug or X person or X reason. But only the reason supplied on the legal document.

Purple, you are actually incorrect. If a Police Officer observes something, and he is legally somewhere, then he/she can seize that item.

For example...Say I have a search warrant and I am looking for a bloody knife. Then, while executing the warrant I find other contraband, such as illegal drugs, then I can seize those items. It basically falls under the plain view doctrine.

The reasoning behind the US S. Ct. making this decision is that people do not have the right to possess illegal items.

Originally Posted by fnord

...That would be impossible unless this was 1984 and you were actually a thought police officer.

Wait a minute....

I knew you were going to say that.

[FuBai]

They will primarily be looking for the arrestee to be, they will not be doing a thorough search if they don't see any obvious reason to believe that he may have drugs. He should take down and hide all drug related imagery jigglypuff may have, or obvious life style clues, keep the place smelling clean - basically anything that might give them the slightest clue should be disposed of. If it is neccessary to have drugs or drug related paraphenalia in the house it must be kept in a way so as to keep it hidden and odour free to the best of his abilities. If there is an arrest warrant out on stalin I would be very cautious to say the least about keeping anything in the house. My understanding (and this may be wholly incorrect) is that it does give them permission to enter and perform a cursory search of the residence of the person against whom the warrant has been issued. I do seem to recall that this may not apply to rooms and storage areas that are jigglypuff's alone, so if he lives in a house with multiple rooms then clearly designate which room is whose. If he doesn't have the benefit of lots of rooms then he should try to separate his sleeping area as much as possible from that of Stalin's and clearly delinate which area blongs to whom. Take this with a pinch of salt as some of it is heresay.

[fnord]

Is your post in reference to U$A or UK law?

[FuBai]

fnord: Is your post in reference to U$A or UK law?

USA

[Spyder]

swiS totally understands why someone wouldn't want the po-po coming into his house to get a roomate. This person really should do his best to "Convince" his friend to go turn himself in.

As swiPO says.....they ALWAYS find out, and they ALWAYS getcha....no sense in trying to hide, it'll probably just add more charges, and $$$. The bad thing is that the charges for hiding out and running and all that shit, end up being worse than the original charges in the first place.........

Back on topic: Just to confirm swiS's understanding: If a warrent is out for someones arrest, the cops CANNOT enter the residence to get them? Assuming that the residence is on paper someone else's??

In swiS's area, the local "Constables" go out and collect all the people on warrents.

S

[Alfa]

Common sense is that they may come in looking for the person if they have any kind of hesitation. That should be enough to make sure that everything in the house is 100% legal.

[purplehaze]

Phaze has a similiar story that may help out.

One of phazes imaginary friends was harbouring a fugitive that was suspected of a stabbing. The friend of phazes was a meth cook, there were meth heads and equipment setup to cook meth, along with tin foil and lithium batteries all throughout the house when the cops surrounded the hosue and kicked in the doors came through the windows and rushed everyone in the house asking for identification. The fugitive had jumped behind the couch and the cops had to leave because he wasn't found.

The cops couldn't do anything about the meth or the foil or shit because the warrant they had was signed to look for the fugitive. Anything else that isn't defined by the warrant would get thrown out in court and would have to be a seperate warrant declaring that the premise be searched for X drug or X person or X reason. But only the reason supplied on the legal document.

[Spyder]

Originally Posted by purplehaze

Phaze has a similiar story that may help out.

....... The cops couldn't do anything about the meth or the foil or shit because the warrant they had was signed to look for the fugitive. Anything else that isn't defined by the warrant would get thrown out in court and would have to be a seperate warrant declaring that the premise be searched for X drug or X person or X reason. But only the reason supplied on the legal document.

Although, this is true. BIG "IF" the cops wanted to. They could easily have everyone in that house detained, while they had the warrent modified to include all of that "Plain Sight" material.

SwiS isn't 100% sure on this, although has read a few cases where there were errors on the warrent, which ended up just being modified/signed off pretty much while on-site.

Also, not sure how this would hold up if someone were challenge the premise for which the warrent was issued and appeal any negative findings? SwiS will have to research this a bit more?

In the meantime.....Best of Luck to SwI-OP's Friend..............S

[purplehaze]

I understand that is in the constitution and not to detour the topic. But per wiki it says.

Under the Fourth Amendment, searches must be reasonable and specific. This means that a search warrant must be specific as to the specified object to be searched for and the place to be searched. Other items, rooms, outbuildings, persons, vehicles, etc. may require additional search warrants.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_warrant

For whatever reason, it was a true story and did happen that way. The state was Alabama.