Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: search and seizure of parolee

Thank you for your inquiry.

A search conducted on an adult parolee, subject to a properly imposed search condition, does not intrude on any expectation of privacy society is prepared to recognize as legitimate. (People v. Reyes(1998) 19 Cal.4th 743, 752-754.) Reyesrelies on the holding in In re Tyrell J., supra, 8 Cal.4th 68. In that case, our Supreme Court held that a peace officer who, without prior justification, searches a juvenile probationer subject to a search condition does not violate the Fourth Amendment rights of the minor even if the officer is ignorant of the condition. In People v. Robles(2000) 23 Cal.4th 789, the Supreme Court refused to extend Tyrell J.to search of a residence shared by the defendant and a third party roommate who was subject to a probation search condition. (In re Tyrell, J., supra, 23 Cal.4th at pp. 805-806), creating one exception. Because the discussion revolves around a defendant's expectation of privacy (and the issue of defendants knowing that they are on parole, thus eliminating their expectation of privacy, regardless of whether or not the police knew about the parole), a failure of a defendant to know about search conditions for parolees might, conceivably, create another exception.

I hope that this answers your question, but if you need further information, have other questions you need answered, or feel that you need legal representation, I am happy to help in any way that I can. Please feel free to email me directly at [email protected].