Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: probation violation

If the terms of your probation require you to submit to searches and seizures then you must do so, even if there are others living in your home. If the law did not work this way, then married probationers or those with roommates could never be searched, and probationers could avoid searches merely by getting roommates. No warrant is necessary for such a search.

Police who are in hot pursuit of a fleeing felon are allowed to follow him into private property without a warrant, but they are only allowed to search for the suspect and evidence connected to him. They may not go through drawers, pockets, etc. looking for evidence to use against someone in the house. If they happen to find evidence of another crime in the home while they are properly searching for the suspect, the evidence can be used in a prosecution of the homeowner or of whoever else may have committed the crime.

The fleeing felon rule is completely unrelated to the issue of probation searches. The police may chase a fleeing felon into any building he enters, whether it houses a felon or not, and the same rules apply either way.