What Is An Illegal Search and Seizure of Home in Albuquerque, New Mexico?

 

WHAT IS AN ILLEGAL SEARCH AND SEIZURE OF YOUR HOME IN ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO?

Your home is provided with the highest Constitutional protection against unreasonable searches and seizures in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Courts presume that a warrantless search of your home is invalid unless it falls within one of the strict and narrowly defined exceptions to the warrant requirement.

WHAT IS A “HOME” FOR ILLEGAL SEARCH AND SEIZURE PURPOSES IN NM? 

The fact that you lease or rent your home, apartment, or dwelling does not effect your legal rights. In fact, the definition of “home” extends to other locations where you are staying overnight such as a motel, or as an overnight guest in another person’s home. The key here is that you must be an overnight quest, not simply a casual visitor.

Now that we have the issue of what constitutes a home settled, a police officer is not allowed to place their foot beyond the doorway, or reach into your home – for any reason – without a warrant. Therefore, the police do not have the right to enter your home simply because you have opened the door – assuming that you remain inside the home, and are not standing in the doorway. If you choose to answer the door when police knock – which you are not required to do – always remain inside of your home, do not stand in the doorway, and remember that it is your legal right to refuse to allow the Officer to enter your home.

WHEN CAN THE POLICE ENTER YOUR HOME WITHOUT A WARRANT IN NEW MEXICO? 

A warrantless search of your home is justified in three instances: (1) when you give consent for the Police to enter your home, (2) in emergency situations, and (3) when exigent circumstances are present.

EXCEPTION TO HOME WARRANT REQUIREMENT — CONSENT

Similar to the warrantless search of your vehicle and personal property, you throw away your Constitutional rights by giving the Police permission to search your home, vehicle, or personal property. Often the Police will threaten you by saying that they have enough evidence to obtain a warrant, but they will not press criminal charges if you allow them to search your home, vehicle, or personal property without obtaining a warrant. This is exactly what happened in the New Mexico case, State v. Shaulis-Powell, 127 N.M. 667, 986 P.2d 463. In this case the Officers’ knocked on the Defendant’s home and informed the Defendant that they were investigating the presence of marijuana at the Defendant’s home. The Officer told the Defendant that “. . . if he consented [to the search] and marijuana was found, no arrest would be made at that time, whereas if a warrant was obtained and marijuana was found, arrests would be made.” Id. at 465. Based on this statement the Defendant allowed the Officer to search his home without a warrant. The Officers’ entered the home and backyard, discovering several marijuana plants growing. The Defendant was then placed under arrest for possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute – and the Court upheld the arrest despite the Officer’s statements. Moral of the story – never consent to an officer searching your vehicle, personal property, or home – by doing so you are throwing away valuable Constitutional Rights.

EXCEPTION TO HOME WARRANT REQUIREMENT — EMERGENCY SITUATIONS

The second exception to the warrant requirement involves Emergency Situations. The Police may enter your home without a warrant under the emergency aid doctrine when they believe that a person in your home is in need of immediate aid. To meet this standard the police must demonstrate that: (1) they have reasonable grounds to believe that there is an emergency at hand and an immediate need for their assistance for the protection of life or property; (2) the search must not be primarily motivated by an intent to arrest and seize evidence; (3) there must be some reasonable basis – approaching probable cause – to associate the emergency with the area to be searched.

An example of an emergency situation includes a case where an individual called 911 and then hung up without providing additional information. During the call the operator could hear screaming within the residence and the sound of loud, banging noises. When the Officer approached the home he observed a person with a large cut on their head inside the home. Based on these facts, the Court held that the Officer’s entrance into the home without a warrant was justified. Other common examples include fires, or other natural disasters that threat an individual within the home, or sounds coming from a home that demonstrate that an individual inside the home is need of immediate aid.

EXCEPTION TO HOME WARRANT REQUIREMENT — EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES IN NEW MEXICO

The last common exception to the warrant requirement involves Exigent Circumstances. In this respect, the police can search your home without a warrant when there are “exigent circumstances” – which essentially means that there is demanding situation at hand. To demonstrate “exigent circumstances” the Officer must demonstrate that immediate action is necessary to prevent imminent danger to life and/or serious damage to property, or to prevent the imminent escape of a suspect or destruction of evidence. Several New Mexico cases have examined “exigent circumstances” and include one case where an individual was suspected of driving while intoxicated and fled into his home to avoid arrest. In this case the Court held that the exigent circumstance was the dissipation of alcohol in the man’s system – a form of destruction of evidence. Another New Mexico case found an exigent circumstance for the police to enter the home without a warrant when an individual who had just left the home told police that there was an “active meth lab” in the home, and the chemicals used were dangerous and could cause an explosion.

That wraps up our review on illegal searches and seizures. As mentioned above – Police always need a valid warrant to enter and search your home. Warrantless searches are presumed unreasonable and the State bears the burden to prove that a strict and narrowly defined exception to the warrant requirement was present – such as consent, an emergency aid, or exigent circumstances – allowing the Police to enter your home without a warrant.

 

Matthew Legan Sanchez has practiced criminal law in Albuquerque, New Mexico since 2009.