Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Your question leads me to think there's a whole lot more to this story than you've posted. It's probably just as well that you didn't include too many details, as your post is not privileged.

The main part of the question - the legality of the search - is interesting, but it also has a twist to it. If the search was illegal under the 4th Amendment, either because the warrant was deficient or there was no legal justification for the entry and search, then any resulting evidence would be inadmissible. In this situation, you say the police found nothing, so there may not be anything to suppress. There may still be issues, however if they found something that would tend to link the person in the house to the transactions. Evidence can take many forms, so just not finding drug paraphernalia doesn't mean they didn't find anything valuable in the search.

And to answer the first question - how difficult is it in this situation to convict someone? That all depends on the facts and the legally admissible evidence they have. I practice in Orange County - let me know if you want to discuss this further.

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Whether you can be convicted depends upon all the evidence, facts and defenses available. If there are grounds for any suppression motions, they can be brought. Priors will enhance the penalties. If you're asking if you can waive a magic wand and claim Now, if you're serious about getting legal defense help, feel free to contact me to discuss the facts.