I have a hard time with this.
As a citizen, who has the same constitutional rights as any other, I insist that police officers adhere to the restrictions placed on them not only with regard to search warrants, but also to arrests and investigatory detentions. These rules were set by the founding fathers, and based on subsequent jurisprudence, not because they thought they were just good ideas, but due to the long history of suffering from the abuses of an oppressive government.
However as a former LEO at both the Federal and State levels, I caution those who read such laws and court decisions and assume that with the law or court decision on their side, that they will prevail in such a situation. Police officers come to a search warrant with sufficient man power and fire power to meet any anticipated resistance they will encounter. They also have the ability to rapidly summon other officers who will enter the fray with less than a total understanding of the situation other than they are being summoned by one of their own, a brother officer, who is in need of assistance.
I give you the following scenario as an example of how out of hand things can get. Bill is a law abiding and god fearing man who has never broken a law in his life other than a couple of speeding thickets. Bill has a son, Bob who is a POS. Bob got in with a wrong crowd and has started dealing drugs. Bob recently sold drugs to an undercover officer, and said officer has reason to believe Bob keep his drugs in Bills house, where he lives with his parents. The police officers obtain a warrant and because Bob is also known to carry a gun, they ask for a no knock warrant. Bill is at home drinking his morning coffee when the police kick in his front door, Bill thinks he is being robbed. Bill picks up his 38 revolver and starts throwing lead, the officers return fire, Bill is shot dead. A subsequent search turns up no drugs in the residence, and a subsequent investigation reveals that the undercover officer lied about knowing that Bob stored his drugs in the home where he lived.
In this scenario, the fact that the officer lied about knowing drugs were in the house made the warrant to search the home unlawful. The officers actions in searching the house were unlawful. Under this doctrine, Bill was entitled to defend his home,,,,,,,,,but Bill is just as dead.
A law or court decision that gives you the right to resist an unlawful arrest or search of your abode, will be of little comfort to you, or you family, at your funeral.
Both as a citizen who believes in the Constitutional restrictions placed on LEO's, and as a former LEO, if you know that an officers actions are illegal, the place to present that is in a court, not at the point of gun in a contest of wills where the odds are distinctly stacked against you.
If you think the officers are wrong, shut the hell up, demand your attorney, seek judicial sanctions, file officer conduct complaints, and then sue their collective butts off.
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