Michael is a veteran police officer for the New York City Police Department
Analyze the fact pattern presented below. Please use federal law, your own state law, or military law. For example, search and seizure, search warrants, execution of warrants, exceptions to the warrant requirement, exclusionary rule, Miranda rights, and the right against self-incrimination. Do not restate the facts in your summary, but rather identify the issues, analyze them, and provide your legal reasoning.
Michael is a veteran police officer for the New York City Police Department.
Fact Pattern
Michael is a veteran police officer for the New York City Police Department. He is dispatched to investigate an armed robbery and possible homicide with a weapon at 123 Apple Lane, Michelle Hansberry’s house. He knocks on the door in uniform and announces his identity, and flashes a search warrant to Michelle. She does not ask to see or read the search warrant and lets Officer Michael in the house.
Judge Judy issued the warrant at the local district court. It is a search warrant that indicated the kitchen, family room, powder bathroom and common areas of the home could be searched for a gun used in connection with a murder in Time Square and for a diamond necklace missing from Tiffany’s jewellery store on Fifth Avenue.
While searching the premises indicated on the search warrant, Officer Michael detected a smell coming from the master bedroom, which is located on the first floor of the home. He steps by the bedroom entrance and determines, based on his professional experience; it is the smell of gunpowder. Due to this emanating smell, Officer Michael immediately enters the bedroom and discovers a gun on the dresser. Officer Michael grabbed the gun and placed it into an evidence bag, and labelled it.
He then opens the dresser drawer and discovers the diamond necklace missing from Tiffany’s jewellery store. When Officer Michael questioned Michelle, she responded, “I did not kill anyone, my sister stole the necklace. I only agreed to hide the necklace for her.” Officer Michael asked Michelle to go to the police station to answer some questions, and she agreed. Upon arrival at the station and being booked, Michelle told Officer Michael’s partner Scott, “my sister made me do it, I had no choice.”
