What Is Search and Seizure?
Search and seizure is a practice that is regulated by the 14th Amendment. In order to conduct a search and seizure, law enforcement officers must obtain a warrant giving them permission to search a premises. The law enforcement officers can only confiscate illegal items or relevant evidence that they find in the areas explicitly mentioned in the warrant.
The 14th Amendment puts restrictions on search and seizures in order to ensure the rights of suspects are protected. In this article, we will discuss the law surrounding search and seizures and the restrictions placed on evidence collected during an unlawful search and seizure.
What Does the 14th Amendment Say About Search and Seizures?
The 14th Amendment search and seizure regulations focus mainly upon the right to privacy. Having law enforcement officers randomly show up and start digging through your trash is a massive violation of privacy. That is why law enforcement officers must obtain a warrant to conduct a search and seizure.
By obtaining a warrant, the search and seizure is lawful, and the law enforcement officers can search through your belongings as specified by the warrant. They will be able to search through the trash, cupboards, boxes, and anything else in the locations specified in the warrant. In some circumstances, the police may conduct a search and seizure without a warrant.
Search and Seizures and the Legitimate Expectation of Privacy
Law enforcement officers do not have to apply for a warrant to conduct a search and seizure in a place where someone does not have a legitimate expectation of privacy. Someone would have a legitimate expectation of privacy in their own home or in a restroom, so police would not be able to conduct a search and seizure without a warrant.
When the court determines if a search and seizure violated privacy, they would consider the following 2 factors:
- Did the person have an expectation of privacy?
- Would a reasonable person or society at large expect privacy in a similar situation?
For example, if something is in plain view, there is no legitimate expectation of privacy. So, even though you may be inside your home, if the police can see illegal items from the doorstep when you open the door to speak to them, they can seize those items. Similarly, if law enforcement officers spot illegal items on the passenger seat of your car when they pull you over, they can seize those items.
Restrictions For Evidence Obtained Through An Unlawful Search and Seizure
If the police conduct an illegal search and seizure, they may still charge you with a crime; they just cannot use any of the evidence they obtained in the search and seizure. In order to arrest you or take the case to trial, they need to have enough additional evidence to charge you.
The 14th Amendment protects people from having evidence obtained through an unlawful search and seizure used against them. In 1961, the Supreme Court introduced the exclusionary rule that causes all illegally obtained evidence from being used in trial. This is to discourage law enforcement officers from conducting illegal search and seizures. The law does provide some exceptions for good faith errors.
Not only is the evidence from an unlawful search and seizure inadmissible, but so is any further evidence that was uncovered because of the illegally obtained evidence. This is known as the fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine. Because the law enforcement officers would not have the additional evidence without the unlawfully obtained evidence, they cannot use the additional evidence against the defendant. In order to use the additional evidence, the prosecutor would have to prove that they would have been able to get the additional evidence through other legitimate sources. For example, if an associate came forward of their own volition and confessed.
How Does an Illegal Search and Seizure Affect a Criminal Case?
An illegal search and seizure will not result in the entire criminal case being dismissed. If there is still enough evidence to charge the defendant, then there will still be a case. However, the prosecutor cannot present any evidence that was obtained during the unlawful search and seizure. The only way it can be used is if the judge wants to take it into account when they are setting the sentence.