Your Fourth Amendment Right Can Protect You from Unnecessary Searches
Video Transcribed: Hello, I am a lawyer in Wagoner, Oklahoma. My name is Stuart Ericson, and we’ll be talking about the rights of US citizens in criminal cases.
We’re going to go through the rights found in the amendments to the Constitution, which are called the Bill of Rights. And so the fourth Amendment to the Constitution is on search and arrest and warrants. And again, it is your Fourth Amendment right. And I will just read it because it is very important.
Search and arrest warrants, the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, in particularly describing the place to be searched and the person or things to be seized.
This is a big right. Police law enforcement cannot just bust into your house and search. There are some exceptions to needing a warrant, but we’ll get to that on a different day. But by and large, they have to have a search warrant supported by swearing an oath based upon probable cause presented to a judge who has to sign off on it.
Then there are rules as to the execution of the search warrant. But there is just not unlimited power by the government to search your car, search your home, search your barn, search your garage, and that right is given to you in the US Constitution.
Again, they have to describe where they’re going to search, they just can’t search everywhere. They need to tell in this warrant, we’re going to search this address, these rooms, and this is what we’re searching for. And so there are particular rules to that. And of course the ultimate punishment, you might say for an illegal search is whatever is found in a search warrant that is determined to be invalid is inadmissible and cannot be used against you.
So this is a very important right that needs to be analyzed and fought for in any criminal case where there is the seizure of evidence that is used against somebody. And so that, again, that right is found in the Fourth Amendment.
If you have any questions for an Oklahoma criminal defense attorney, reach out to me, at stuartericson@wagonerlawyer.com.
