Quote:
Originally posted by fhqwhgads
How do you know that the police just randomly started searching through utility records like you assumed? How do we know that the police did not receive an anonymous tip from a nosy neighbor? How does the high value of the house exclude the occupants from illegal activity?
The police need a supoena to access utility records. The police can't simply start searching through records on a whim. Drug dogs do not "hit" on another dog's piss. The dogs and handlers are well trained and the handler knows the difference between the dog's normal activity and his alert to whatever contraband they are trained to detect.
All that being said, I do not believe that there was enough probable cause to have a warrant issued in this case. A high utility bill and a positive hit by a dog should not be enough for a judge to issue a warrant. The detective applying for the warrant and the issuing judge should be looked into.
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I don't KNOW that they randomly searched through records. The thing is that this was part of a multi-house raid all over the county.
http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/ne...82/detail.html
If this were an truely an unrelated tip, the timing is awfully convienient that the tip came when they were going after these other homes. I think they went looking for a probable cause ghost with the "dog signal" and the "puts garbage out the day of" and found one. It is like they have mad libs of probable cause that they can turn to AFTER they search through your records. Then they can "retroactivly" supeana your records (after they have already seen them the first time) and then bust your door down.
Funny thing is that as the voice of opposition you have is not that far off from me. I do not think they had cause to go in regardless of whether or not they snooped your records.