Similar to the requirement for making an arrest, police officers must have information that would lead a reasonable person to believe that a crime was committed at the place to be searched. Or, that evidence of a crime exists at a specific location. While search warrants are sometimes required, there are many instances when they are not.
Common examples of when police can conduct a search without a warrant, based on probable cause, include:. Police have probable cause to seize property when they have knowledge of facts and circumstances that would lead a reasonable person to believe that an item is contraband, stolen, or constitutes evidence of a crime. When executing a search warrant, police must search only for the items described in the warrant.
However, any other illegal items or evidence of other crimes they find may, for the most part, be seized as well. Example: Officer Seesit pulls over a car and its three occupants for speeding. The officer searches the car with the driver's consent and finds baggies of cocaine stashed behind an armrest in the back seat. All three occupants say they didn't know the cocaine was in the car. Seesit has probable cause to arrest the car's occupants.
In the absence of evidence demonstrating that the cocaine belonged to a specific occupant, the officer could reasonably conclude that all of them knew about and possessed the cocaine. Maryland v. Pringle, U. The information provided on this site is not legal advice, does not constitute a lawyer referral service, and no attorney-client or confidential relationship is or will be formed by use of the site. The attorney listings on this site are paid attorney advertising.
In some states, the information on this website may be considered a lawyer referral service. Please reference the Terms of Use and the Supplemental Terms for specific information related to your state. Grow Your Legal Practice. Meet the Editors. Establishing Probable Cause To establish probable cause, police officers must be able to point to objective circumstances leading them to believe that a suspect committed a crime.
Examples of Probable Cause Example : Officer Furman arrives at Simpson's Jewelry store moments after it's been robbed He sees broken glass inside the store. Talk to a Lawyer Start here to find criminal defense lawyers near you. Practice Area Please select While the Fourth Amendment's probable cause requirement has historically been applied to physical seizures of tangible property, the issue of searches and seizures as applied to data has come to the Supreme Court's attention in recent years.
In Riley v California , the Supreme Court held: " The police generally may not, without a warrant, search digital information on a cellphone seized from an individual who has been arrested. Riley , however, did not end the inquiry into digital data's interaction with the Fourth Amendment.
For the term, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear Carpenter v. United States. Carpenter, accused of several robberies, was arrested after " his phone company shared data on his whereabouts with law-enforcement agents. Carpenter is challenging the "constitutionality of the Stored Communications Act, a law permitting phone companies to divulge information when there are 'specific and articulable facts' that are 'relevant and material' to a criminal investigation.
Please help us improve our site! No thank you. Probable Cause Primary tabs Definition Probable cause is a requirement found in the Fourth Amendment that must usually be met before police make an arrest , conduct a search , or receive a warrant.
Overview Constitutional Basis Although the Fourth Amendment states that "no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause", it does not specify what "probable cause" actually means. Application to Arrests The Fourth Amendment requires that any arrest be based on probable cause, even when the arrest is made pursuant to an arrest warrant. An applicant for a warrant must present to the magistrate facts sufficient to enable the officer himself to make a determination of probable cause.
Much litigation has concerned the sufficiency of the complaint to establish probable cause. Mere conclusory assertions are not enough. Ventresca , however, an affidavit by a law enforcement officer asserting his belief that an illegal distillery was being operated in a certain place, explaining that the belief was based upon his own observations and upon those of fellow investigators, and detailing a substantial amount of these personal observations clearly supporting the stated belief, was held to be sufficient to constitute probable cause.
Requirements for establishing probable cause through reliance on information received from an informant has divided the Court in several cases. Although involving a warrantless arrest, Draper v. United States may be said to have begun the line of cases. A previously reliable, named informant reported to an officer that the defendant would arrive with narcotics on a particular train, and described the clothes he would be wearing and the bag he would be carrying; the informant, however, gave no basis for his information.
FBI agents met the train, observed that the defendant fully fit the description, and arrested him. A case involving a search warrant, Jones v. Aguilar v. Then, in Spinelli v.
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