This is a dead topic I think, so not sure this will post, but I'll try to answer.
About 20 years ago, I was driving home from work (Atlanta). I was still in college and was a co-op student at "big blue". Great job, I worked 7 days a week and actually slept under my desk at times. This one night I was driving home around 2am. I think it was a Thursday, could have been Friday. A cop in Decatur (That's home to Emory) pulls me over in front of the courthouse for a having a broken headlight. Fair enough, I was a poor college student, but I'll take the ticket. Not good enough for him, he was trolling for drunk drivers. He spent a lot of time asking me questions and after shining a flashlight throughout my car asked me if he could search my trunk. I told him "no sir, I don't think that has anything to do with a broken headlight". The next words from him were "get out of the car, boy". It went downhill from there. It was a very abusive next 30 minutes...he was careful to tell me it was only him and me out there, no witnesses, until he finally searched my trunk anyway (which he could do now that I was arrested)...in the end, the judge sent me home knowing full well what happened and didn't so much as admonish the police.
Since this happened to me, I've been careful to notice the stories of others. There are some great police officers throughout America; they deserve our respect. Unfortunately, the "brotherhood" protects the bad ones as well.
rather than "proof beyond a reasonable doubt" (which is what is needed for a criminal conviction) and definitely is at a level such that sometimes places are searched or items are seized that never end up resulting in a criminal prosecution. The case mentioned in this thread involved a search warrant affidavit mentioning facts that made reasonable a belief that the items seized should be looked at as possibly related to a crime.
Comments
10% is more than enough reasonable doubt
That's not the correct standard of evidence for the allegations supporting a search warrant.
Yes, I am a lawyer.
10% may not be the "correct" standard, but I have seen police arrest and search people with zero evidence.
How often have you seen police arrest and search people? I'm always amazed at how rarely I've seen that, even when living in the heart of big cities.
This is a dead topic I think, so not sure this will post, but I'll try to answer.
About 20 years ago, I was driving home from work (Atlanta). I was still in college and was a co-op student at "big blue". Great job, I worked 7 days a week and actually slept under my desk at times. This one night I was driving home around 2am. I think it was a Thursday, could have been Friday. A cop in Decatur (That's home to Emory) pulls me over in front of the courthouse for a having a broken headlight. Fair enough, I was a poor college student, but I'll take the ticket. Not good enough for him, he was trolling for drunk drivers. He spent a lot of time asking me questions and after shining a flashlight throughout my car asked me if he could search my trunk. I told him "no sir, I don't think that has anything to do with a broken headlight". The next words from him were "get out of the car, boy". It went downhill from there. It was a very abusive next 30 minutes...he was careful to tell me it was only him and me out there, no witnesses, until he finally searched my trunk anyway (which he could do now that I was arrested)...in the end, the judge sent me home knowing full well what happened and didn't so much as admonish the police.
Since this happened to me, I've been careful to notice the stories of others. There are some great police officers throughout America; they deserve our respect. Unfortunately, the "brotherhood" protects the bad ones as well.
"That's not the correct standard of evidence for the allegations supporting a search warrant."
It would be great if you could explain (to us non lawyers) what did constitute a correct standard of evidence.
The search warrant standard is called "probable cause"
http://www.criminal-law-lawyer-source.com/terms/probable-cau...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probable_cause
rather than "proof beyond a reasonable doubt" (which is what is needed for a criminal conviction) and definitely is at a level such that sometimes places are searched or items are seized that never end up resulting in a criminal prosecution. The case mentioned in this thread involved a search warrant affidavit mentioning facts that made reasonable a belief that the items seized should be looked at as possibly related to a crime.