Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

I have a friend that was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. during his stay he decided to go down stairs and have a smoke. well he got dressed and went down the stairs and noticed a cvs on the corner. so he went over there and had a smoke and a beer. well the hospital caught wind of this and sent staff to check on him. he was on his way back and when entering the hospital he was stopped by security and told he was not to go up the stairs. he called me on the phone and i could not believe what was going on. so i am a rn in calif and called the nurse on his floor. i was told what was going on and that no doctor was notified and he had left ama. no form signed and he never strarted he wanted to be discharged he was confused and went down but came back. i was trabnsfered to nursing supervisor . she told me he was still a patient and not discharged i asked her specifically. then she said he would have to go threw the er to get breadmitted into his room. so i call to tell him this and he agrees to go into er. about 3 hours lkater he calls me back saying they never let into the er and the police found a pipe with drugs in his backpack up stairs in a room he had not been in for hours now. why they called the police is beyond me, they are now using hippa to protect them, when they didnt care 3 hours eariler. he never gave the police reason to search threw his stuff or is he on probation /parole. they recently sent him a paper saying the da wants to charge him with possession.. this is crazy cuz he wasnt anywhere around his backpack and it was left in a room where he was not allowed to goand many people had plenty of access to it at all times. how can they get away with this? isnt there any laws that protect him from illegal search and seizure??


Asked on 3/20/14, 7:21 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Greg Hill Greg Hill & Associates

Before screaming foul, your friend may be prudent to check all forms he signed as a condition of receiving medical treatment at the hospital. One can imagine that a hospital reserves the right to search a patient's property for medical purposes to ensure that any diagnosis and treatment is safe and effective.

Moreover, regardless of the forms your friend may have signed, the hospital is not a government agent, so the Fourth Amendment simply does not apply to protect him from unlawful searches and seizures.

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Answered on 3/20/14, 7:35 pm
Zadik Shapiro Law Offices of C. Zadik Shapiro

If the search was done by the police, your friend may have a valid search and seizure motion. He should speak to a lawyer.

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Answered on 3/21/14, 5:06 pm


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