Learn about warrantless vehicle searches and administrative search exceptions.
Thanks to an abundance of crime dramas on TV, most everyone knows that police need to obtain a warrant in order to conduct a search. What many people do not realize is that there are numerous exceptions to the warrant protections provided by the 4th Amendment. Under these exceptions, police are permitted to conduct searches and seize evidence, and prosecutors are permitted to use this evidence in court, without the need for a warrant.
We’ve already covered four common search warrant exceptions in previous blogs. Now we turn our attention to three more common exceptions.
Automobile Exception
This is an extremely powerful exception allowing a police officer to stop and search a vehicle if that officer has a clear probable cause for believing that a crime has been committed and evidence of that crime will be found inside that vehicle.
For example, let’s say an officer was conducting surveillance on a location where drug sales are believed to take place. They see a car pull up to the curb. An individual comes over to the car, leans in the window, items are exchanged, and the car pulls away. The officer now believes they have witnessed a drug transaction, the evidence of which will be found in the vehicle. This gives them probable cause to go stop the car and search it. Under the automobile exception, they may search the entire interior of the car, including the trunk.
It is very important to understand that the automobile exception does not apply to every routine traffic stop. In order to search the car, the officer must have probable cause to believe a specific crime has been committed. They cannot search your car just because you ran a red light.
Probation Exception
If you are on probation and the terms of your probation include search and seizure conditions, a police officer can stop and search you at any time, for any reason, without a warrant, and that evidence will be admissible in court. The officer does not even have to be aware that you are on probation before initiating the warrantless search for the evidence to be admissible.
Administrative Exception
If the health department or fire department needs to come into your property to conduct a routine inspection, they do not need a warrant. They can search wherever they need to in order to satisfy the requirements of their inspection. If they find evidence of a crime, it can be used in court because it was discovered in the course of a properly executed administrative search.
One application of the administrative exception almost all of us have experienced is a security search at the airport. While you would not have to consent to such a search of your person and belongings if a police officer walked up to you on the street, in the context of the administrative safety inspection performed in an airport the search is legal.
Remember, if you are facing criminal charges it is extremely important to hire a defense attorney with a thorough understanding of search exceptions. If your attorney can convince a judge to agree that the warrantless search resulting in evidence against you was unreasonable because no search exception applied, that evidence can be suppressed or thrown out. This could have a major impact on your case and make the difference between a conviction and winning your freedom.
