Can a Guilford County criminal defense attorney explain the consent exception to the warrant requirement? Yes, of course we can! Generally, a police officer needs a warrant to search your house or your car, but there are a few exceptions that allow them to skip the warrant and go straight to the search. The consent exception is one of them, it’s extremely important that you know about it because it’s one of the most frequent exceptions used by police officers to gain lawful access to a search.
For more information on giving officers consent to conduct a search, you should speak with a Guilford County criminal defense attorney today!
Consent can sometimes be more complicated than you’d think. First, the person giving the consent has to have actual or apparent authority to give the consent. This can mean that the actual owners, other people who it would be reasonable to believe have the right to consent, and third parties that have common authority over the property can usually consent to a search. What may surprise you is that landlords and hotel clerks cannot generally give consent to search. Additionally, if there are two people who live together and one consents to a search but the other does not, officers do not have authority to search the premises because one of them denied it. Whether it’s reasonable to believe that someone has the right to consent will depend on the totality of the circumstances and what a reasonable officer would believe in that situation. Furthermore, officers do not need to tell the person that they can deny consent to search, and officers can in fact use trickery to obtain consent by saying things such as saying they could easily go get a warrant (as long as they don’t lie about already having one.) Lastly, you can limit your consent to a certain area or withdraw consent at any time, but if the officer develops probable cause while they are searching via consent, they they may be allowed to search more than what you consented to. It’s for this reason that you must be very cautious and speak with a Greensboro criminal defense attorney today for more information on consent searches!
Contact a Guilford County criminal defense attorney today regarding your consent search! The criminal defense attorneys at Garrett, Walker, Aycoth, and Olson know the requirements of the law and also genuinely care about each and every case presented to them by their clients.
Call today at 336-379-0539; we are here to help!