Criminal defense attorneys in Broward County understand that before the decisions in Terry v. Ohio and Camara v. Municipal Court, which involved an administrative inspection by public health officials, one type of search or seizure and one type of probable cause were generally at issue. The U.S. Supreme Court has since recognized that a lower standard of probable cause may justify certain lesser intrusions upon privacy, such as administrative inspections or temporary detentions short of arrest. The Court's current approach to search and seizure does not treat probable cause as a uniform standard that must be met whenever the Fourth Amendment applies. As a result, criminal attorneys must understand two distinct definitions of probable cause. If you have been arrested in Broward County, this issue is of paramount concern.
1. Probable cause is sometimes viewed as a flexible standard derived from balancing private and governmental interest. Under this approach, the Broward County Court measures the degree of intrusion upon individual privacy against the importance of the government purpose to be served by the intrusion. For example, the need to search for evidence of murder might outweigh some minor privacy interest, but that same minor privacy interest might outweigh the government's need to prevent illegal parking. This balancing of private and governmental interests approach to the Fourth Amendment is sometimes referred to as a general standard of reasonableness. At other times it is referred to as a sliding scale of probable cause. Whatever the appropriate terminology, the balancing approach is most often applied to searches and arrests involving less serious intrusions upon privacy.
2. Probable cause is sometimes defined as information sufficient to justify a person of reasonable caution in the belief that seizable items are located in the place to be searched.
For more information on the issue of probable cause for a search visit our Broward County Criminal Defense Forum
Fort Lauderdale Criminal Attorney Practitioners Note -
The offense of DUI in Broward County consistently raises issues pertaining to search and seizure. This is due to the fact that a vast majority of Broward County DUI charges begin with a patrol officer conducting a routine traffic stop. Consequently, with each DUI charge, the stopping officer must be able to articulate the natural development of probable cause that ultimately led to an arrest for driving under the influence.
William Moore P.A. is headquartered in Broward County, Florida
