The police may come to your door and ask to enter, but do you have to let them in? As an American citizen, you have rights to privacy within your own home. You do not generally have to allow the police to enter your home or search your home unless they have a search warrant with your exact address on it, or unless they meet some other exemption to the warrant requirement.
Your Legal Rights in Your Home
Here are some important facts about your rights and freedoms within your home as an American:
- The Fourth Amendment to the United States constitution prevents police from entering your home without a proper warrant. There are some exceptions to this general rule, which allow a police officer to search your home under specific circumstances.
- Evidence seized during an illegal search can mostly be excluded from any legal proceedings against you. Your attorney will assist you in establishing the impropriety of any wrongful search.
- A search warrant (for your home or any other place) must be based on probable cause. That means the judge who issues it to the police must have probable cause due to the facts presented and evidence presented that you are guilty of some crime and searching your residents is likely to lead to discovery of evidence that would be helpful to proving your guilt.
- If you consent, the police do not need a warrant to search your home. Even if they do not have probable cause, and you let them into your home and they procure evidence, they can use it against you. So, do not consent unless they have a warrant or you have absolutely nothing to hide.
- There is a plain view exception to the warrant requirement. If evidence is in plain view, the police can seize it without a warrant even if it is in your home.
- The police may also search your home incident to an in house arrest and if exigent circumstances exist at the time.
Getting Legal Help
If you are concerned about your legal rights or have questions about the criminal process police must abide, contact a criminal defense attorney in your area. An attorney will help you understand the law and your rights. Police must follow specific procedures, or they face the risk of overturned and dismissed cases, not to mention bad press.
