Also known as: warrantless searches · search without warrant
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A search by government agents that proceeds without a judicial warrant when an established exception to the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement justifies the intrusion.
Wanda Williams and Warren Woods share an apartment. Warren answers the door when officers arrive with a tip about stolen goods. Warren invites the officers inside and points them to a closet containing the items. The evidence is later offered against Wanda at trial.
Winona Walsh owns a rental building. City inspectors arrive unannounced to check for code violations after a tenant complaint. They enter common areas and several units without a warrant or consent. Walsh later challenges the inspection results in court.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Wyatt Wilson is stopped for speeding late at night. Officers see a knife on the floorboard and notice he appears nervous. They search the passenger compartment and find a firearm under the seat. Wilson moves to suppress the gun.
Whitney Washington places a call from a glass phone booth on a public street. Officers attach a listening device to the outside of the booth and record her statements. Washington later seeks to exclude the recording from her trial.
Wren Wallace's apartment is the site of a fatal shooting. Officers remain after the victim is removed and conduct a multi-hour search of every room and drawer. Wallace moves to suppress items found hours after the initial response.
Warren Woods's home is searched pursuant to a warrant later found to lack probable cause. Officers had relied in good faith on the warrant issued by a neutral magistrate. Woods moves to suppress the evidence seized during the search.
Consent is valid if the third party has common authority over the premises. The consent permits officers to search and use the evidence against a non-consenting co-occupant. This rule rests on the reduced expectation of privacy that cohabitants share.
Yes. When officers have probable cause to believe a vehicle contains contraband, they may search the entire vehicle and any containers that could hold the object of the search. The rule applies even when probable cause focuses on a particular container.
No. The seriousness of the crime alone does not create a broad exception. Officers may search without a warrant only while emergency conditions persist. Once the scene is secured, a warrant is required for further investigation.
A search incident to arrest must occur substantially contemporaneously in time and place with the arrest. A later search at an impound lot hours after the arrest falls outside the exception and requires a warrant or another justification.
…searching homes and seizing personal belongings without warrants. The Amendment has been construed liberally to protect against warrantless searches of buildings and seizures of tangible effects, but until recently the Court refused to say eavesdropping fell within its restrictions. The first major case involving wiretapping, Olmstead…