Have you had your car, home or other belongings searched by law enforcement officers in Nebraska? Maybe you have even had your person searched by a police officer or other authority. Understanding your rights in these situations is important because there are both state and federal laws in place that are designed to protect you and your right to privacy.
As explained by the Nebraska Legislature, both the State Constitution and the United States Constitution provides the right for you to be secure against unlawful or unreasonable searches or seizure of property by law enforcement officials. If a search warrant is in place, it must provide details as to exactly what or who is to be searched. The warrant must also have been sworn to by an appropriate person.
If a search is initiated and you are not shown any search warrant, you may choose to dispute the legality of the search. In these situations, the state has the burden of proving that the search was indeed lawful and give the reasons for that. If a search was conducted with a warrant in place and you still dispute the legality of this, it is your responsibility to prove why the search was not valid or why the warrant should not have been issued.
If you would like to learn more about search warrants and your rights as a defendant either during or after a criminal arrest, please feel free to visit the investigations and defendants' rights page of our Nebraska criminal defense website.