Question about Search Warrants

On another site someone said something and I'm wondering if it's true but I don't know where to start to find out. Specifically they said that if your gun safe is bolted down to your house then the cops can check it with a search warrant, but if it isn't bolted down then it takes a seperate search warrant to be able to check it. Is this true and where would I even start looking to find out about this?

EDIT: Oh and before someone says it, no I wouldn't start by asking the cops. I don't expect them to actually know the answer or where I could find it and I would expect most cops to say what is best for them and not what my actual rights are.

Prolly depends on YOUR state law. Generally the precise locations must be specified in the warrant. Only the law abiding abide the law. "You may beat the rap but you won't beat the ride."

Aknazer said:

On another site someone said something and I'm wondering if it's true but I don't know where to start to find out. Specifically they said that if your gun safe is bolted down to your house then the cops can check it with a search warrant, but if it isn't bolted down then it takes a seperate search warrant to be able to check it. Is this true and where would I even start looking to find out about this?

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If they have a search warrant for your house, they can pretty much search anywhere they please on your property and in any container. Even if they don't have the specific right, they are likely to do it and make you fight the search results in court.

That's the way it happens in Nebraska, anyway.

I have no idea if it's true, but I can see the legal argument. If the safe isn't bolted down, they can take it with them on the assumption that it could contain whatever they're looking for. They would usually need a separate warrant to search it, but taking it with them would normally be covered by the original warrant. If the safe were bolted down the argument could be made that it had to be opened to satisfy the original warrant, because it could contain what they're looking for but couldn't reasonably take it with them.

Once again, no idea if this is true.

In North Carolina at least, search warrants are specific to what you're looking for rather than where in the location you're looking for it. The location must be specified as well, but if the location is a house it can be as broad as "The residence at #### East Street". So, in your hypothetical instance, if the object of the search warrant (illegal narcotics, say) could reasonably be located inside a gun safe, then the search warrant allows searching inside that gun safe regardless of whether it was bolted down or not.

Kivuli said:

In North Carolina at least, search warrants are specific to what you're looking for rather than where in the location you're looking for it. The location must be specified as well, but if the location is a house it can be as broad as "The residence at #### East Street". So, in your hypothetical instance, if the object of the search warrant (illegal narcotics, say) could reasonably be located inside a gun safe, then the search warrant allows searching inside that gun safe regardless of whether it was bolted down or not.

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^^^ This^^^ As long as the container i.e. drawer, box, closet, gun safe could reasonably contain the "illegal" thing or evidence described in the warrant and is located on the property listed in the warrant, they can search it. If they are looking for the nuclear weapons you stole, they can't look in yer jewelry box cause there is no way in hell you could hide a nuke in there.

Wouldn't the 5th offer some protection being they would need the combination to open a safe?

No, because the act of providing access to something is not the same as giving a statement that will incriminate you. The search warrant already gives constitutional authority to search said safe. If you choose not to provide the combination, whomever is doing the searching has the authority to make entry by other means if the safe is a place where the contraband in question could reasonably be located.

The "closed container rule" has nothing to do with whether the safe is bolted down. That has to do with whether it becomes a "fixture" and thus part of the real estate, or whether it remains mere personal property. For search and seizure purposes, neither of those ideas makes any difference; if the warrant is "general" (e.g., "go to 10312 Cleveland Street and search therein for tangible personal property evidencing the crime of homicide of Joe Blow, and return with such evidence intact"), then they can open anything they want to in any container. In Virginia, general warrants are illegal (though judges still issue them), as are "no-knock warrants" (though judges still issue them), and a "special warrant" (one that states specifically what is to be searched and for what items of evidence) will have to state specifically that a specific container is to be opened and its contents searched. Depends on the laws of your state and the intellectual honesty of your judges.