Legal Question in Criminal Law in Pennsylvania

Re: entry and search

Sure they can. It's called a search incident to an arrest. They can do a sweep of the house to be sure that it is safe. I'm assuming that they found additional things after the arrest which are further hurting your case. The bottom line is that you need to talk to an attorney as soon as possible. Feel free to call our offices or e-mail me directly at [email protected]

Re: entry and search

I disagree with the previous answer. First, they may have needed a warrant to enter the house at all. If they want to enter the house without a warrant, they need to have exigency. This means that something is super serious right now, so we don't have time for a warrant. For example if shots were fired, if someone actually was shot, if the person who called into the police is know, not unknown. Where is the house? What kind of neighborhood is it? Could the police have secured the house before they entered and waited for a warrant?

Next, if exigency was present, and it may have been, and they enter the house and make an arrest on the first floor, we have new questions for the rest of your question. Was anyone else home? Did they recover the gun? When they went into other rooms, where did they search? Did they open drawers, closets, cabinets? These are all huge factors for me. If they arrest the persona nd recover the gun in the same room, they can do a basic sweep of the house to see if anyone else is home, but thats it. They cannot search any closed areas unless they go back and get a warrant.

Feel free to email [email protected] if you have more questions.

Good Luck, Brian