Link
This is the case of the State of Minnesota v. Carter. In this case, police were given a tip that certain people in a specified apartment were dealing illegal drugs. They peered through the gap in some blinds of said apartment, where they saw people putting a white substance into plastic bags. After they attained a search warrant, the two people who left the apartment were arrested and searched, and found to have crack cocaine in the car.
It could be argued that the arrest was unconstitutional, seeing as they thought they had privacy, and had gone out of their way by closing the blinds to acheive this privacy from any prying eyes. They attempted to take this to their advantage, but it's not a foolproof argument. Because the police obtained search warrants under reasonable suspicion, there really isn't much that can be argued for the criminals.
There is also that the apartment was not theirs. Therefore such a temporary housing could not grant them the same privacy as their own home. It wasn't their home, therefore, it was basically the same as having the cocaine at work. It was not quite a public place, but they weren't allowed ultimate privacy, either. So, it really wasn't a violation of their rights. It would have been a violation if they were in their own home, or if they hadn't attained a search warrant.
1.25.2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment