Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

criminal law

my boyfriend is currently in custody due to a raid done at our home. the police came in with a search warrant. at the time of the raid the police asked my boyfriend to give two leads and he can be set free or any charges. since he said no, they came out with drugs & a gun. they also claimed that all the evidence pointed at my boyfriend. well now the tables turned and they claim its not my boyfriend but his brother. they claim two transactions were done. when my boyfriend asked to see the tapes, all of a sudden the public defender stated they may not have the tapes anymore since things like that are not kept. they keep asking my boyfriend to give up two leads or say everything was found in his brothers room. the last transaction they claim to have on tape occured on 01*14*09, the raid occurred on 01*23*09. shouldn't have they gone in right after the first or second transaction without a search warrant? last time he was in jail was in 1993 (his first time in there), this is only the second time. they offered him 4yrs 4 months, after the public defender stated he was not familiar with his case when he gave this offer. what advice can you give me regarding my boyfriends case?


Asked on 4/09/09, 10:37 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Joe Dane Law Office of Joe Dane

Re: criminal law

You're asking a lot of an internet question site.

I'll hit the basics, but this is for general guidelines only.

Search warrants must be based on probable cause - usually sworn affidavits from police officers to a judge. The information must not be "stale" and must convince the judge that the items sought (drugs) are actually where the search is to be done. If they had old information, then there could be an attack on the warrant.

Should they have just "gone in" after a controlled buy or undercover deal? They would still need a warrant. It sounds to me like there is an informant that gave the police their information. Your boyfriend's attorney should be making motions to disclose the search warrant information, especially if they're pointing the finger at boyfriend one day, the the brother the next.

A defense attorney is obligated to relay any plea or settlement offers, so it sounds like that's what the PD was doing. Hopefully, by the next court appearance, they'll be better prepared to discuss the case and and either work a better deal or attack the evidence.

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Answered on 4/09/09, 11:56 pm


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