So my house got raided, question is, its a 2 floor house and we rent the downstairs, we pay rent, and it was a signed lease. The kid that was the reason behind the raid lived upstairs. If they had a warrant against him and his mother, would police be allowed entrance downstairs? No smell or anything comming from downstairs. They found 3 used waterpipes and an either downstairs but i dont think they are able to charge me since its technically a different apartment. Thoughts? Thanks for the help i had no idea where to post this. To sum it up- Cops raided upstairs Warrant was for mother and son They went downstairs Found 3 pipes and an eighth They also took my fucking books about weed wtf! They took my hightimes magazine, a hightimes "guide to marinuana" and a book called "the pot book" i was in the middle of reading, fml
Well the search warrant would have been for the whole property, so yeah I think they were within the search warrant to go down there bro. Have you been charged with anything? I may be wrong about this though.
i know here in canada, they can get a search warrant for a specific room in the house, or for the entire house. Since youre renting the basement though im not quite sure how that works
Is there a separate entrance/exit for what you are renting? Were the pipes in plain sight in a common room?
hopefully the landlord has it seperated, cause if thats not on paper than teh whole house basically is ok to get busted. but if its written down, then you should have different adrress than upstairs meaning the warrant 'they didnt have' keeps you ok. hire a lawyer is all i can say haha a good one.
Does the downstairs apartment you live in have a different mailing address. If it has a different mailing address even just a different apartment number than the one above then you would a pretty good defense if you wanted to fight any charges they bring against you for the paraphernalia. It all depends on what the law says about search warrants issued on apartment buildings with connecting apartments, which is probably different in each state.
Same thing happened to one of my friends a while back but he was working when the raid went down and never got charged, they ended up giving the possession charges to the people the raid was on, idk if they fought the unknown pipe charges lol but my friend was out 2 pieces.
Same thing happened to us kinda. Look at the warrant and the afifavid. If the warrant says they have the right to search "the premises" then yes they have full right to search. If it reads they have a signed doc only for the upstairs then they do not. More than likely if they weren't there for you... You have nothing to worry about. Even if they did find "things", like my lawyer told me...who's to say those items weren't there before you moved in...lol. If you have a case date don't worry to much, they will more than likely drop it. Also depends where you live. I'm from Cali
No numbers separating them and same address sadly the cop called me and said to come in and show them which pieces were mine and which werent. And they were roght onmy counter -______-
don't go down there don't admit anything don't allow them into your home without a valid warrant don't step outside your door to talk to them, keep it chained or closed+locked. never talk to the cops without a lawyer present and recording any communication
If the cops ever try to pressure you to do anything just say... My lawyer told me if I converse with you he or she will drop me as a client.
You have an expectation to privacy when you rent a room (or floor) in this case. They shouldn't have entered if they knew that. Pretty sure. A warrant is very specific- who, where, what for, when. Probably depends on the rent arrangements and shit. You shouldn't have been tangled in this, and since you were I don't think you can get charged.
Yeah....I wouldn't identify shit for them. I'd just tell 'em you're renting the downstairs space and contact your lawyer.
This is the best advice. You don't have to talk to them at all, you certainly don't have to do anything which incriminates you. They are trying to get to make their job easy and probably to squeeze you for info when you come in. If you wish to stay free, like cball said, shut up and relinquish no rights. The biggest thing is just shut up, don't talk and make their job easier. You don't have to comply with their request to come there and anytime they call you or come to the door, say "I plead the 5th." and hang up the phone or walk away from your LOCKED front door. Make sure all entrances to your place are locked from now on so they don't come letting themselves in. Which they can do with unlocked doors, it is legal.