Search and Seizure for Police

Warrantless Searches and Seizures

The State has the burden of proving that a search or seizure was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment when they do not obtain a search warrant.  This presentation will review seizures, consent searches, hot pursuit, exigent circumstances and other exceptions to the search warrant requirement.  We will also discuss how a police officer and prosecutor can rebut a defense attorney’s argument that the police violated a defendant’s constitutional rights when they conducted a warrantless search or seizure. We will also review the most recent decisions from the United States Supreme Court and Ohio Supreme Court involving search and seizure.

But Officer I only had one beer, the Automobile Exception to the Search Warrant Requirement.  The automobile exception to the search warrant requirement is often the controlling issue in a Driving under the Influence prosecution.  Attendees will review the most recent case law involving DUI stops. We will discuss pretextual stops, DUI checkpoints, and 911 tips reporting drunk driving.  Officers will learn and discuss factors that support an officer’s suspicion that a person is driving while intoxicated.  Officers will discuss case law that allows a police officer can prolong a traffic stop after ticketing a driver.  We will also examine car searches incident to arrest, based upon probable cause and inventory searches.