Tag Archives: police

What is the difference between reasonable suspicion and probable cause?

November 30, 2011

Reasonable suspicion is what they need to detain you. Probable cause is what they need to search. Slightly different burdens and a slightly different analysis.
If you’re contacted by the police, your first question should be, “Am I free to go?” If the answer is yes, then you are free to walk away. [...]

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Should you talk to the police?

May 9, 2011

I still get this question all the time -
“If I’m completely innocent, why shouldn’t I make a statement to the police?”
I’ve written before about calling a detective back and the risks there. But what about answering questions in person if you’re contacted during an investigation?  Should you talk to the police if you “have [...]

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Privacy, cell phones and police searches - lock up your phones!

January 25, 2011

The United States Constitution protects you from unreasonable searches and seizures.  Under the Fourth Amendment, the police must either have a search warrant or some recognized exception to be able to legally search (and therefore gather evidence to be used against you).
One of the exceptions is a search “incident to an arrest.”  Since 1973, the [...]

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Pat down searches - Orange County Criminal Defense

January 3, 2011

When can the police pat you down?  How far can they go?
A patdown search, sometimes called Terry search or a frisk is only authorized in certain circumstances.  If you want to see a perfect example of when it’s not supposed to happen, look at an old rerun of the TV show COPS.   Seems like every [...]

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Not read your rights by the police? What are the rules?

October 26, 2010

The police didn’t read my rights!
The thing people ask me about most often seems to be about being questioned by the police without their Miranda rights.  Things like “Were the police required to give them?”  “I told them I didn’t want to answer, but they kept going.” and “Can I get my case thrown out [...]

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