Legal Question in Constitutional Law in California
I had 4 narcotics officers show up at my door one morning stating that they had received an anonymous phone call, in which made allegations of me selling a narcotic (they never told me what). Knowing I don�t sell anything, I invited them in. After a few questions they seemed satisfied and began to leave, but stopped and asked if they could take a look around to make the situation disappear. So, I told them that would be fine, but they weren�t to touch anything in the process. To make a long story short, they went into my bedroom and reached into my desk grabbed a box and open it and discovered a tiny tiny amount of narcotics, used for personal consumption. Well, now I received a letter dating an arraignment, 7 months later. I never received a ticket or anything during the entire ordeal. Is this something that I am protected under the 4th amendment? If so, how do I handle this matter? Thank you
3 Answers from Attorneys
You waived your Fourth Amendment rights when you foolishly invited the police to enter and search your home. (You also waived your Fifth Amendment rights, at least for the moment, by volunteering to answer their questions.) You handle this manner by paying one of us to try and keep you from being convicted.
I disagree with Mr. Stone that you waived your Fourth Amendment rights entirely by consenting to a non-invasive search. That is like saying agreeing to be frisked is consent to a body cavity strip search. The problem is it is your word against theirs, unless you have independent witnesses. They will say you consented to a search.
You did not allow them to open drawers but only a plain sight search. Please contact me directly for an assertion of your rights. You should have retained counsel for best results.
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