Although the Supreme Court often insists that warrantless searches must fall within a few well-delineated exceptions, numerous exceptions to the general rule that searches must be conducted pursuant to a warrant permit warrantless searches. 

Palm Beach Criminal Defense Lawyers - Searches Without Warrant - Search of Automobile                     

Palm Beach criminal defense lawyers should be very familiar with the Florida statutes governing a search incident to arrest. A search incident to arrest is proper only if the arrest itself is lawful. An illegal arrest contaminates all items seized pursuant to that arrest,  such as physical items taken from the person arrested, the defendant's fingerprints or the defendant's subsequent confession.

A qualified Palm Beach criminal lawyer will consistently maintain that all items derived from an illegal arrest are subject to exclusion from evidence at the defendant's trial. If the arrest itself is lawful the search must be incident to or substantially contemporaneous with the lawful arrest. The search may actually precede the arrest if the search and arrest are nearly simultaneous. Thus the "hot pursuit" doctrine permits the police to conduct a limited search while in pursuit of a fleeing defendant.                                                                                     
It is interpretive that an attorney practicing criminal law in Palm Beach county understand that the justification for a search incident to arrest is threefold: (1) an arrested defendant retains no significant expectation of privacy; (2) police must take immediate action to guard against the defendant's use of weapons to resist arrest or effect an escape; and (3) the police must act to prevent the defendant from destroying evidence. This threefold basis for the search incident exception requires that a distinction be drawn between searches of the arrestee's person and searches of the areas under the control of the arrestee.          
                                                                           
Palm Beach criminal lawyers will also encounter situations involving the search of an arrestee who is already in custody. By arresting a suspect, the police have seized the entire person, including any items found on the suspect's body. The defendant may be fully searched at the place of arrest or during administrative processing at the police station. Items on the defendant's person, such as a shoulder bag, may be searched at the time of the arrest or  "inventoried" at the police station.

Palm Beach criminal lawyers giving lecturing on national matters are cautioned that although the Supreme Court stated that an arrested person retains no significant expectation of privacy in the arrestee's person, many states have enacted statutes governing the conduct of strip searches and body cavity searches. For example, one statute provides that strip searches (examination of genitalia, bunocks, or female breasts) must be conducced by persons of the same sex as the person arrested and out of the sight of all other persons. This is also the case in Palm Beach County in accordance with local law.

Additionally, Palm Beach criminal lawyers should be aware that body cavity searches (examination of or intrusion into body orifices) must be conducted under the supervision of medically trained personnel. 

For more information about this section, contact the criminal lawyers at our office today. There is no charge for a consultation.