kito109654 wrote:
Lammo wrote:
NavyLT wrote:
BTW, if you didn't know, in Washington no law enforcement officer may enter your home without a search warrant, no matter what they say. That is RCW 10.79.040
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=10.79.040:
RCW 10.79.040
Search without warrant unlawful — Penalty.
(1) It shall be unlawful for any policeman or other peace officer to enter and search any private dwelling house or place of residence without the authority of a search warrant issued upon a complaint as by law provided.
(2) Any policeman or other peace officer violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
SNIP
I deal with search and seizure issues on a daily basis and the statute you cite has never been raised in any of my cases. It only forbids
search without a warrant, not
entry. There are all sorts of ways for law enforcement to
enter homes without a warrant. The primary means is the welfare check/community caretaking function. If the entry is not to conduct a search any contraband seen during the entry is subject to seizure. That would include any banned firearms in plain view if they ever get this garbage passed. In any event, I wouldn't put it past the forces of darkness and evil behind this kind of junk to enact an exception for entry to check on the safe storage of firearms, which would follow after legislation to require safe storage.
if you believe what you wrote, read it again.
Well, I guess it's clear that you don't believe what I wrote so it appears that I'm the trouble maker today. I believe what I wrote and I stand by it. Perhaps my meaning wasn't clear so I will try to explain.
Just so you know where I'm coming from, I have been a prosecutor for 22 1/2 years (darn lawyers) and I am currently on my third tour through our drug unit (I keep having relapses). It is absolutely true that no defense attorney or court has ever referred to RCW 10.79.040 in any warrantless search case I have ever worked on.
I posted my comment because I was under the impression that NavyLT took the position that law enforcement cannot
enter a home without a search warrant. Maybe I think that because he wrote "in Washington no law enforcement officer may enter your home without a search warrant, no matter what they say." and then cited RCW 10.79.040.
This is simply not what the statute says and it is not the law in this state. The statute says "enter
and search" not "enter
or search". So long as the purpose for the entry is not to search, that is, to look for evidence of a crime, the cited statute does not prohibit or penalize law enforcement entry into a home.
There are even situations where they can search without a warrant, e.g. consent after the giving of Ferrier warnings (State v. Ferrier, 136 Wash.2d 103, 960 P.2d 927 (1998)). Go to the following link and look at pages 170 through 218 if you think the police always need a warrant to enter or to search. Link:
http://www.waprosecutors.org/MANUALS/search/May 2008 -- new -- search SEIZURE AND CONFESSIONS.pdf
Does this make any more sense now? Maybe trying to correct what I see as incorrect statements of the law around here is more trouble than it is worth. I would just hate to see someone get jacked up for obstructing or resisting because they got in a cop's face over an otherwise justified warrantless entry based on something they read in this forum.
Edited to fix link
