Legal Question in Criminal Law in California
We were served with a search warrant at my house for narcotics. During the search warrant officers destroyed my property, and they took over a thousand dollars in cash. They provided no one with a receipt of any evidence that was collected, and although two members of my family were arrested they were not read their Miranda rights. It is my understanding that it is illegal for them to not provide a receipt of the evidence collected and also it is illegal for them to search without somebody one of the whole household members to be present. Wouldn't that automatically throw the case out? I had filed an official complaint against two officers that were entering the property without a warrant and without permission before the search warrant happened and I believe the search warrant was in retaliation of this complaint. What are my legal rights?
3 Answers from Attorneys
Being arrested and not read Miranda is a myth that won't go anywhere on this case.. Nothing throws out a case, if the evidence is is excluded then the case can be dismissed on a lack of evidence. Most police departments have rules and procedures that outline how evidence is taken and accounted for.
The best thing that can happen is that those who were arrested get attorneys and fight it.
You could see an attorney and discuss any civil rights issues.
Welcome to the world of search and seizure. There is a rule that the officers leave an inventory at the house. But failure to comply with the rule will not result in dismissal of the case. There is no rule that a person must be home when the search warrant is served. The inventory should be provided to those arrested through the discovery process. It also should be available along with the warrant and the affidavit supporting the warrant ten days after the search at the office of the clerk of the court. There is no requirement that the police read the Miranda rights before or after an arrest. Miranda rights only go to the admissibility of of any statements made by those arrested.
You are all mixed up.
All of the household members do not have to be there. In fact the officers can break in while executing the warrant or if the occupants of the place to be searched refuse to let them in.
Penal Code section 1535 specifies that a receipt be left for the property seized. "When the officer takes property under the warrant, he must give a receipt for the property taken (specifying it in detail) to the person from whom it was taken by him, or in whose possession it was found; or, in the absence of any person, he must leave it in the place where he found the property."
Failure to leave a receipt may give rise to issues in getting the property returned, but I'm unaware of any case that has held that evidence can be supressed for failure to leave a receipt.
Miranda warnings are not required to be given prior to arrest. They are only required to be given prior to custodial interrogation.
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