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Minneapolis Criminal Defense Lawyer Understands Fourth Amendment Protections

On Behalf of | Aug 20, 2015 | Firm News |

The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution gives citizens specific rights regarding personal privacy. These protections include some that prohibit law enforcement officers from searching a person or a person’s property without a warrant, consent, or probable cause. There are some instances in which a person might be able to use the violation of a Fourth Amendment right as a basis for criminal defense.

Anyone who has been arrested based on a search that might be illegal should enlist the help of a Minneapolis criminal defense lawyer to determine if their Fourth Amendment rights were violated. A violation of your Fourth Amendment rights would occur if you didn’t give the officer consent to search, the officer didn’t have a search warrant, and there wasn’t probable cause to conduct the search.

The Fourth Amendment does provide some instances in which law enforcement officers can conduct a search without consent or a warrant. It is possible for the officers to conduct a search in connection with a lawful arrest. The officers can also conduct a search if they feel they are in danger. For example, an officer can do a pat down during a traffic stop to check for weapons.

It isn’t acceptable for law enforcement officers to conduct a search for no reason. The officers can’t execute an arrest simply for the purpose of doing a search on someone. If either of those circumstances occur, it might be possible to have the charges dismissed based on the violation of the Fourth Amendment.

Contact us to review the circumstances of the search done for your case. We can determine your options for a defense strategy and get started on building that defense.