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http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...47761350501823
This is a video concerning your constitutional rights (if you are an american) regarding search and seizure, and it tells you how to avoid unconstitutional searches by law enforcement officials. This should be madatory veiweing for pretty much everyone that lives in america.
Hahahahahahahhahaha
"oh This Realy Sucks"
Hahahahahahahahahahahaahahahaha
One thing I can tell you from the current state of criminal law and procedure: DO NOT SAY ANYTHING. It doesn't matter if you are guilty or innocent. Do not speak to the police under any circumstances. We spent a semester openly calling those who speak "idiots" in criminal procedure courses. It is an understatement, these days, to say anything can and will be held against you. If you are detained or arrested, say nothing. You can always sue later.
OEC
(I should add that I am not including matters such as identification or basic questions at traffic stops etc)
saying as little as absolutely possible is a good tactic, no matter which cops you're dealing with. don't deliberately withhold stuff though, because not pissing the cops off is the next rule of cop-dealing-with.
That's true in cases where you may be obstructing justice. I don't even hate cops (at least in theory). The law enforcement priorities are simply beyond fucked.Quote:
Originally Posted by sheramil
OEC
really you don't have much grounds for this. the actual legal right of a cop to detain (non seizure) lies somewhere between a "hunch" and "inuitive reasoning". what does that mean? who knows. cops don't even know. this is what makes up the grounds for "probable cause". probable cause is the reason that you are being detained.
Just to make things clear, being detained simply means that a police officer is acknowledeging you and asking you to enter into a voluntary communication. they obviously won't phrase it that way, they'll just say "hey" and walk up to you. the point is at this time you aren't being seized, although there may be some specific obligations that you are required to meet (in some states you may be required by law to show ID to an officer, for any reason without probable cause.) You don't have to say anything and you can walk away. If the officer detained you without probable cause, then they can't do anything.
That is not always a guarantee, because some officers may consider walking away and not talking to them to be "suspcious behaviour" which IS probable cause. At this point the officer may seize you, which is where the first part of the constituion comes into play. A seizure of your persons means the same thing as a detainment, however the implication is that it is non-voluntary and you are expected to comply and may not leave, otherwise you can be arrested for it. This requires probable cause but does not require a warrant. This is kind of trickey because it doesn't require for you to physically be held in place, just an implied statement on the officer notifieng you that you are being seized. for example if an officer says "hey you, come here." then they are giving you a command to stay in place, and you are probably being seized. the purpose of this is for the officer to gather information, or otherwise whatever he needs to make an arrest. That doesn't neccesarily guarantee that you will be arrested, but just be aware that he figures that you might end up that way, and that's why he's doing it.
Now if the officer finds something to link you to a crime, then you will be arrested and expected to stand trial. you may be taken away in handcuffs and held at the police station for any period of time, or you may be released on certain conditions. Whatever happens, the outcome is always the same. I'm not going to get into what happens after that, that's a different subject.
Now on the subject of warrants. A warrant is a notification by a judge approving a specific action for law enforcement officers. This typically applies to search and seizure law. The purpose of this is to ensure that police are acting within thier boundries and in complience with your rights. This document is legally valid and permissbale in court, unlike probable cause, which you can debate. whether you will get anywhere trying to debate it is another story...
there are a lot of reasons an officer will get a warrant. the main one is that they either have to, or else they want to make sure that you can't debate them about probable cause in court. like I said before, they don't need one to seize you, but if they have one, then all the better for them. They Must have one to search you, your home, and anything else of yours that is considered to be private property, and to make a seizure of any of these things.
Be careful because there are a ton of cases where it's been debated about public vs. private domain. basically the rule is if they can see it, then they can probably take it without a warrant. Once you are arrested then everything is up for grabs, but they may still get a warrant if they think you have a sleazy lawyer that's going to jump all over them, and it's really no problem at all at that point. But the thing is, they need something to arrest you for, so that's what they are trying to get.
They have the right to check you for weapons without a warrant so they might by chance come accross that vial of crack in your front pocket. I'm not going to say either way whether this is all well and legal. they'll say it is, if you got a good layer he'll say hell no. also an officers nose is considered part of his law enforcement tool, and you'd be amazed at his uncanny ability to smell that pot (public domain) even though it was tripple wrapped, covered with lemons and a half a mile away in your garage.
the court is almost always going to side with the cops, even if they are less than legit. It's really a matter of cash.
Grounds for what? Cops are a long way from infallible if you know what you're doing. I would have hard time not giggling at the cop in that video.
OEC