What recourse would you have if you think that a search warrant was not justified?

Yes, it can be appealed (see the supreme court deicision that was handed down earlier this week about a dog sniffing the curtilage around house.

As a general rule, items found during an illegal search cannot be introduced as evidence.

But like most things, this is not totally cut and dried, and there is a whole lot of legal research to do if you wanted to talk about a particular search in a particular way.

It is called the exclusionary rule. Before it gets to trial, you’d tell your attorney the reasons you think the search warrant was invalid and why the evidence should be suppressed. Your attorney would submit the evidence to a judge and a ruling would be made. The evidence will be admissible if the police officers acted in good faith believing the facts they used to obtain the warrant were valid.

If you’ve already gone to trial and been convicted, you’d try to get an appeal based on the evidence that the search warrant was invalid.

Yes, a search warrant has documentation associated with it that gives the probable cause evidence and other evidence as to why it should be issued.

If that case was actively being tired you could have your attorney make a motion to have the material gathered in the search warrant thrown out.

Judges are careful to review the facts of a case and the “probable cause” before issuing a search warrant. They don’t do it on a whim.

They appeal the evidence obtained in a search warrant the time on Law and Order.

Before the trial begins, tell your attorney why you think the evidence should be excluded. The rest is up to him/her.

@YARNLADY… And if they fail to represent you on the matter, fire their butts and get one who will. Too many times an attorney operates with $$$ in his/her eyes.. the more your willing to pay them the better they seem to become.. This too is considered illegal but unenforceable so it’s up to you (not the mouth piece) to make certain they pursue these matters else you will find yourself agreeing to a plea that the lawyer concocted in order to go to the next client who may send his kid through college this time. (yes, I’ve been burned by these bottom feeders). I thought mine was kidding when he said, ” For ten grand more I’ll get you off on probation”.. so I laughed it off and found myself doing 14 months on a bogus charge that no one seemed to want to appeal once the gavel fell..

@chewhorse You are correct. Lawyers charge by the hour, and the more you expect from them, the more they charge.

@YARNLADY .. Indeed, and that’s why I always look for the ‘hungry’ lawyers.. Usually they’re just getting started, trying to amass a client list and they may not be slick or have as good a change of winning as the money grubbers do but I tell you they do the best job they can so as not to have a failure in their history, Established attorneys, though experienced, have no incentive to win unless the money is worth their while.. Those who can not pay out the nose will be getting what they could afford.