Both New Jersey laws and the 4th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States prohibit law enforcement officers from searching your home, person, or vehicle whenever they so choose. Instead, police officers must follow strict procedures in order to lawfully conduct a search and have the evidence found be allowed in a criminal case against a suspect. Specifically, in most situations, officers must obtain a proper search warrant that gives them permission to search a certain home and/or person.

In a fairly recent case in New Jersey, the state Supreme Court examined the authority and validity of an “all-persons” warrant. This type of warrant allows officers to search all people who are present in a specific location. This means that if police show up to a residence with an all-persons warrant, anyone who is there can be searched whether they live at the residence or not. This type of warrant is commonly used if a particular place is known for regular drug sales.

In the recent case, State v. Bivins, the NJ Supreme Court did place limits on the all-persons warrant. In that instance, officers arrived at a residence with an all-persons warrant and learned from people there that two individuals had recently left in a Pontiac. Another officer heard this and stopped a Pontiac with two men–Bivins and his cousin. The officer searched them based on the information they left the house to which the all-persons warrant had applied. A significant amount of cocaine was discovered and they were arrested.

The Court held that the evidence that resulted from the search of the Pontiac–the cocaine–should have been suppressed because the search violated Bivins’s Constitutional rights. This placed a limit on all-persons warrants that they cannot extend to those rumored to have been at the residence, but instead only apply to those who were known to be there.

Contact a New Jersey Criminal Defense Attorney for Help Today

At the Law Office of David W. Polsky, we understand how to fully evaluate and investigate the circumstances of your arrest and the actions of law enforcement to determine whether an unlawful search and seizure occurred. We can then use any violations of your rights in your favor in your case. We have extensive experience with criminal defense in New Jersey, so please call our office at (973) 686-9787 for more information about how we can help in your case.