The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution is not just a legal provision, but a powerful shield that empowers individuals entangled in legal matters. It stands as a robust defense against unreasonable searches and seizures by law enforcement, offering a reassuring layer of protection for your rights.
Whether it's the police, the FBI, or the Drug Enforcement Agency, any law enforcement entity can potentially infringe on your rights under the Fourth Amendment. However, in Los Angeles, these rights are not just protected, but robustly so, providing a strong sense of security.
To navigate this legal landscape, you'll need more than just an attorney- you'll need a skilled advocate who can effectively leverage the Fourth Amendment to defend you in a criminal case, instilling a strong sense of confidence in your legal representation.
What Are Some Of The Defenses That Can Be Used?
One significant aspect that the defense can argue is that someone has violated your rights against unreasonable searches and invasion of privacy if they entered your home, searched it, and found evidence.
We have a lot of cases where the police, for various reasons, are just going into people's homes, finding guns, drugs, and various other things, and then trying to charge the person with a crime.
A good criminal defense attorney will first determine whether the police are lawfully present in the home. That will be determined by whether they have a justifiable reason for entering.
Suppose they can get probable cause that there is criminal activity afoot inside the home. They're likely to find some sort of criminal activity in the home, and it's likely to be discovered immediately, rather than months later.
In that case, they can usually get a search warrant signed by a Judge or Magistrate to search the home. Depending on whether there is danger, whether there are guns or drugs, or other information they have, they might be able to conduct a nighttime search.
One of the strategies we employ is challenging the legality of the search warrant. If we can demonstrate that the warrant was obtained unlawfully, it can significantly weaken the prosecution's case. There are various angles we can use to challenge a search warrant, and a skilled attorney will explore all of them.
One argument is that the warrant, on its face, was not sufficient for the Magistrate to sign. In other words, if you read the facts of it, you would say, okay, that doesn't get you in the house.
You don't have any viable information, concrete and reliable, that says there's going to be some sort of criminal activity or the fruits of some sort of criminal activity. You need to have that to gain entry to the home. That's one of the key steps we take when challenging a search warrant. We will look at the face of the warrant.
Additionally, we often do not have a motion to quash the warrant. Another Motion that can be filed is a Motion to traverse the warrant.
When we're doing a Motion to Traverse the warrant, we're actually saying, hey Judge, look behind the warrant. We've some information here that law enforcement should have provided to you. They didn't give you all the details of what's going on with this case, and therefore, once you see the real details.
They intentionally omitted certain things; you're going to say, then, that this warrant is no good because you can't just include all the stuff that makes it look like something is wrong without including everything. You have to put the warrant in context. You have to include all the details and all the facts so that the Magistrate can make a good-faith judgment on it.
How about challenging a search for a vehicle or a person? The police can't stop any vehicle or person and search them without reasonable suspicion or probable cause. They will need to have reasonable suspicion that criminal activity is afoot and that the person they are stopping or the car they are searching can yield some evidence.
They are actually going to have to come up with some evidence – perhaps a police officer witnessed something, or a hand-to-hand transaction. Maybe they saw a bag full of cash or a bag full of drugs.
They need something concrete to show that if they can stop a person and search them, they can also search a person's car. Often, we file Motions to challenge the search of a person.
We're filing Motions to challenge the stop of a person or even the search of a person's car. This is a free democracy, and the police cannot just run rampant. They are going to have to catch somebody with the goods.
They will have to present articulable facts to demonstrate that the person committed the crime. Then, if they are able to search them or the car now, they will likely find some sort of criminal activity and be able to charge them with a criminal case.
It can't just be a hunch or a guess. They need something clear and specific, and if they don't have it, a good criminal defense attorney will write it for them.
I get the clients in. We go over everything. You give me all the details, and then with all the details, I go through all the paperwork—the discovery, the videotapes, whatever they have—and then I'll make a judgment call on whether a Motion should be filed and, if so, what type of Motion will be filed.
I'm going to be straightforward and honest with you. If you don't have a chance to win your Motion, we won't file one. If you do have a chance, we'll file it, we'll litigate it viscously and vigorously, and we'll do everything we can to get whatever they found suppressed and your case dismissed.
