search warrants

ApathyKillsApathyKills __BANNED USERS regular
edited April 2008 in Debate and/or Discourse
So the video store I used to work at before I was fired got broken into a few days ago. a substantial sum of money and dvds were stolen. according to the gossip I've been hearing I am the prime suspect as evidence indicates that it was a former employee. a lot of people have been telling me to expect a full search of my residence. my question is; is that legal? since I didn't do it the only evidence that suggests me as a suspect is that it seemed to have been a former employee. Is the fact that I used to work at this place enough for them to obtain a search warrant and turn my place upside down?

Also, I live in an extremely corrupt county in wyoming. cheney has a house here. The cops are in bed with the judges are in bed with the attorneys etc.

deleted courtesy orikae
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  • AegisAegis Fear My Dance Overshot Toronto, Landed in OttawaRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    H/A :arrow:

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  • monikermoniker Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    There really isn't that high a bar in order to get a warrant. Even less for a sneak and peak.

    2008-02-12.gif

    moniker on
  • ApathyKillsApathyKills __BANNED USERS regular
    edited March 2008
    I'm going to lay my fetish photography book next to the communist manifesto out on the coffee table in preparation for their arrival.

    ApathyKills on
    deleted courtesy orikae
  • DocDoc Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited March 2008
    While the bar for search warrants isn't very high, I'm pretty sure it's difficult to get search warrants for all employees of a store, unless it's reasonably suspected that they are all in a racket of some sort.

    Who has told you to expect a search?

    Doc on
  • VeeveeVeevee WisconsinRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    If The FBI can get a search warrant for rickrolling you the police could get a search warrant from just this suspicion.

    The scary part?
    When anyone visited the upload.sytes.net site, the FBI recorded the Internet Protocol address of the remote computer. There's no evidence the referring site was recorded as well, meaning the FBI couldn't tell if the visitor found the links through Ranchi or another source such as an e-mail message.

    That friend telling you you're going to a picture about a cute kitten could be rickrolling your ass to prison.

    Veevee on
  • ApathyKillsApathyKills __BANNED USERS regular
    edited March 2008
    Employees, former employees and friends of employees. Alot of them think I did it. My boss was always very suspicious of me as well.

    The current manager was the first to have her place searched, but she has theft on her record.

    aegis:
    I kind of posted it here in hopes that it might develop into a debate about the legitimacy of such practices. I didn't want to start off the thread spouting out my own opinions since I'm somewhat of ignorant as to how these things work.

    veevee:
    holy shit.

    ApathyKills on
    deleted courtesy orikae
  • wazillawazilla Having a late dinner Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    I'd imagine someone would knock on your door and maybe talk to you before getting a search warrant... maybe I watch too much Law and Order though...

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  • LugatLugat Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    I can't give much info about your legal situation but in Germany it's common practices that search warrants are given out which are unlawful and noone cares. Germany's legal system works a bit different than your, though.
    I can understand that searching someone for evidence is effective but come on, there should be at least some evidence suggesting you could've done something wrong other than it could have been a former employee.

    Lugat on
  • whitey9whitey9 Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Just between friends, did you do it? Put your answer in a spoiler tag so the cops can't find it.

    I just fail to see what they expect to find. The place was robbed, are they going to break into a suspect's house and find a big pile of money and a trail of footsteps back to the video store?

    whitey9 on
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  • Gabriel_PittGabriel_Pitt (effective against Russian warships) Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Essentially, yes. Some or all of the missing merchandise and cash is likely to still be in the culprit's possession. If a place is robbed, and it looks like an employee was in on it, then employees are going to be the first people they look at, especially those with a previous record of theft, or has an acrimonious relationship with the store.

    Gabriel_Pitt on
  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Law & Order has taught me that Search Warrants are only impediments to the conviction of people we already know are guilty.

    If you didn't want your house searched, maybe you shouldn't have stolen the DVDs in the first place.

    shryke on
  • TL DRTL DR Not at all confident in his reflexive opinions of thingsRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    It's your duty to cover your home in goatse.

    Random drawers full of dildos.

    Make the fuckers work for it.

    TL DR on
  • MagicPrimeMagicPrime FiresideWizard Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    shryke wrote: »
    Law & Order has taught me that Search Warrants are only impediments to the conviction of people we already know are guilty.

    If you didn't want your house searched, maybe you shouldn't have stolen the DVDs in the first place.

    Way to think like the Government Shryke! :)

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  • LoathingLoathing Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Hide midget porn everywhere, along with tubs of KY.

    When they look at you all 'WTF?', just stare at them and smile all creepy like.

    Loathing on
  • MagicPrimeMagicPrime FiresideWizard Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Print out a picture of "Where's Waldo" and hide it in a drawer.

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  • LewieP's MummyLewieP's Mummy Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Put some dried oregano in plastic bags in your sock drawer - apparently it looks similar to an illegal substance (so Lewie tells me).

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  • ApathyKillsApathyKills __BANNED USERS regular
    edited March 2008
    shryke wrote: »
    Law & Order has taught me that Search Warrants are only impediments to the conviction of people we already know are guilty.

    If you didn't want your house searched, maybe you shouldn't have stolen the DVDs in the first place.

    where did I say I stole them? I didn't steal anything.

    ApathyKills on
    deleted courtesy orikae
  • JebusUDJebusUD Adventure! Candy IslandRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    shryke wrote: »
    Law & Order has taught me that Search Warrants are only impediments to the conviction of people we already know are guilty.

    If you didn't want your house searched, maybe you shouldn't have stolen the DVDs in the first place.

    where did I say I stole them? I didn't steal anything.

    Sombody missed learning about sarcasm.

    JebusUD on
    and I wonder about my neighbors even though I don't have them
    but they're listening to every word I say
  • FencingsaxFencingsax It is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understanding GNU Terry PratchettRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    JebusUD wrote: »
    shryke wrote: »
    Law & Order has taught me that Search Warrants are only impediments to the conviction of people we already know are guilty.

    If you didn't want your house searched, maybe you shouldn't have stolen the DVDs in the first place.

    where did I say I stole them? I didn't steal anything.

    Sombody missed learning about sarcasm.
    Just to be clear, reasonable suspicion is usually a little bit more than "we think the dude who did it works here, so get warrants for all the dudes who work here"

    Fencingsax on
  • grendel824_grendel824_ Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Yeah, but a bunch of other employees claiming he did it might be enough, whether or not they're lying or just idiots. On the other side, how much "evidence" do people WANT the authorities to have to have in order to serve a warrant? Much more than what they consider "reasonable suspicion" is downright proof, in which case they don't NEED the warrant and there's no reason why you're not already under arrest.

    I am of course uncomfortable with the idea that "authorities" can legally search my person or property, but I also know many people in law enforcement who serve these kinds of warrants. They're not interested in snooping into your private life. They don't want to be there. They want to be at home watching TV (and not even close-circuit TV where they're secretly watching you or monitoring your private thoughts but regular old human being TV). They also get denied on warrants with TONS of evidence and criminals end up being able to hurt more people because some judge was afraid that "only" mountains of evidence wouldn't be enough to potentially inconvenience a possibly innocent person.

    There are some pretty good checks and balances in the system already, and as lame as some of the stuff that got railroaded through on the Patriot Act is, some of it finally got law enforcement out of the stone age - the way it had been done pre-Patriot Act for some wiretapping and surveillance was downright comical. Guys were LITERALLY getting away with murder and rubbing it in federal agents' faces because by the time they got a warrant for one phone, they had thrown it away, bought a new one and walked up and showed it to them, mentioning that by the time they got a warrant to hear about all the incriminating stuff they'd be talking about on it, they'd have gotten a new one, ad infinitum. I'm all for coming down hard on anybody that abuses that responsibility, but honestly, if some idiot former co-workers accused me of something, I wouldn't be all that worried about having a search warrant served on me. Especially if their accusations were particularly petty or unwarranted, which would only help my harassment lawsuit... :|

    grendel824_ on
  • grendel824_grendel824_ Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    JebusUD wrote: »
    shryke wrote: »
    Law & Order has taught me that Search Warrants are only impediments to the conviction of people we already know are guilty.

    If you didn't want your house searched, maybe you shouldn't have stolen the DVDs in the first place.

    where did I say I stole them? I didn't steal anything.

    Sombody missed learning about sarcasm.

    Dude, he's just covering his ass. You can't be too careful these days - Dick Cheney is just waiting to masturbate over records of your phone conversations. I bet he's already getting off on these posts... brrr! Chilling! D:

    grendel824_ on
  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Uh, guys, I hate to tell you, but "reasonable suspicion" isn't good enough for a search, unless you're a student at school, or under some sort of other weird circumstances; normally, the police need "probable cause" in order to get a warrant, which is a significantly stronger standard.

    And grendel, you're misinformed; the cops can listen for 48 hours without a warrant, and it takes significantly less time than that to get a warrant.

    Thanatos on
  • JebusUDJebusUD Adventure! Candy IslandRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Thanatos wrote: »
    Uh, guys, I hate to tell you, but "reasonable suspicion" isn't good enough for a search, unless you're a student at school, or under some sort of other weird circumstances; normally, the police need "probable cause" in order to get a warrant, which is a significantly stronger standard.

    And grendel, you're misinformed; the cops can listen for 48 hours without a warrant, and it takes significantly less time than that to get a warrant.

    The rules before were riddiculous for wiretaps, but now they are even worse. Especially for the foreign terrorist watching people. The FISA court I believe they had to go to? Anyway they could tap the phone, listen in and then get a warrant from a secret court, which had only turned down... very few if any if I remember correctly. And it was from a secret court, so no real oversight there. Now all they have to do is just say "Terrorism!" and then they skip the court and wiretap whoever they want.

    JebusUD on
    and I wonder about my neighbors even though I don't have them
    but they're listening to every word I say
  • ScalfinScalfin __BANNED USERS regular
    edited March 2008
    Didn't the PATRIOT act let them get retroactive warrants?

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  • monikermoniker Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Scalfin wrote: »
    Didn't the PATRIOT act let them get retroactive warrants?

    They've been able to get retro-active warrants since Watergate. FISA before now allowed 3 days of listening before you had to submit, and the court was practically a rubber stamp to begin with. It's kind of funny as Republicans were complaining about that very fact when Clinton was in office. Of course that was before 9-11 changed everything...

    moniker on
  • JebusUDJebusUD Adventure! Candy IslandRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    moniker wrote: »
    the court was practically a rubber stamp to begin with.

    But in the time it takes to get that rubberstamp the terrorists could be winning!

    JebusUD on
    and I wonder about my neighbors even though I don't have them
    but they're listening to every word I say
  • kawaiiryukokawaiiryuko New York, NYRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    To get a search warrant, a magistrate judge has to approve an affidavit under the legal standard of probable cause (which has no definite meaning, other than the fact that it is higher than reasonable suspicion).

    Reasonable suspicion is defined as "an objectively reasonable belief that a crime has been recently or is being committed."

    Search warrants are largely governed by the 4th Amendment jurisprudence, and any evidence gathered in violation of the 4th Amendment (even if it is pursuant to a warrant) is tossed out via the Exclusionary Rule. That said, there are many exceptions (Leon's good-faith exception, for one) so it is a largely case-by-case determination whether the Exclusionary Rule applies or not.

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  • grendel824_grendel824_ Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    Thanatos wrote: »
    Uh, guys, I hate to tell you, but "reasonable suspicion" isn't good enough for a search, unless you're a student at school, or under some sort of other weird circumstances; normally, the police need "probable cause" in order to get a warrant, which is a significantly stronger standard.

    And grendel, you're misinformed; the cops can listen for 48 hours without a warrant, and it takes significantly less time than that to get a warrant.


    I'm not actually misinformed, because that doesn't really address anything I've claimed to be informed about. It's relevant and interesting information, so the fact that I was already aware of that doesn't take away from it's being worth posting.

    And I misspoke with the "reasonable suspicion" vs. "probable cause" terminology. Despite how important terms and definitions are, I wasn't being all that careful with my terminology so take that into account before making the grave mistake of thinking anything I posted will save you from having to consult a lawyer or the law books. :P

    grendel824_ on
  • DasUberEdwardDasUberEdward Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    I think the obvious solution is to have lots and lots of naked pictures of guys in uniform around. Make sure you're wearing a towel and relatively oily when they come in for the search. I doubt it will last long.

    But in all seriousness, if they have nothing else to do then it's relatively probable that they'll be looking into you so you should be prepared for that possibility.

    DasUberEdward on
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  • GarthorGarthor Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    naked pictures of guys in uniform

    How does that work?

    Garthor on
  • JugglerjagJugglerjag Registered User new member
    edited April 2008
    Ok man why would everyone that you used to work with think that you took the stuff?

    And as for the police getting a warrant with just the fact that the suspect is a former employee from the store, thats not going to happen. They have to have PC to get the search warrant. They can't just get a warrant for every employee that used to work at the store. If the police could do that then when someone embezzled money from a business they would just get warrants for every single person in the company. Way too time consuming and they wouldn't get the warrants issued. And did the police serve a warrant on that other lady you were talking about or did she let them search the house? Remember the police can ASK to search anything. If she let them then they don't need a warrant.

    Jugglerjag on
  • DevoutlyApatheticDevoutlyApathetic Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    Yea, on the whole "Police asking to search x" there really is very little reason to say yes. As far as I know there is very little reason to ever say "Yes" to a police officer when they ask to do something.

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  • GorakGorak Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    Yea, on the whole "Police asking to search x" there really is very little reason to say yes. As far as I know there is very little reason to ever say "Yes" to a police officer when they ask to do something.

    The only time they ask for anything is if they know they can't just take it.

    Gorak on
  • ZenitramZenitram Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    Flour spilled on the coffee table, bag of oregano in the sock drawer, and a specific number of hidden goatse images, all good ideas.

    Don't let them leave unless they've found all of the goatses.

    Zenitram on
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