Know Your Rights: What Constitutes a Lawful Search and Seizure in South Carolina?

If you are stopped by the police in a vehicle or on the street, it’s important that you understand what rights are afforded to you at both the state and federal levels. Under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, citizens are protected from unreasonable searches and seizures. But what does this actually mean in practice, and how does the State of South Carolina protect its residents against unlawful searches and seizures?

Thanks to factors like complex legal statutes, gaps in law enforcement training, and widespread public confusion about citizens’ rights, it’s no surprise many people question whether their rights were violated in the wake of a search or seizure of their property. Let’s take a closer look at the rights afforded to South Carolinians with respect to searches and seizures and explore how an experienced defense attorney can help you fight for justice in the event that your rights are violated.

Searches and seizures defined

In order to fully understand your Constitutional rights under the Fourth Amendment, you first have to maintain an accurate understanding of what actually constitutes a search or seizure under the law. Generally speaking, searches and seizures can be thought of as follows:

• Searches: A search technically occurs any time a member of law enforcement examines or inspects your person or property for evidence of or related to a crime.
• Seizure: A seizure occurs when a member of law enforcement physically takes possession of your personal property. The law also considers the act of detaining a person (making it so a reasonable person would not feel free to leave) to be a form of seizure under the Fourth Amendment.

It’s relatively easy to understand what searches and seizures look like in a broad sense. However, just because law enforcement has the ability to search or seize your property in some situations does not mean that every search or seizure is protected or justified under the law.

When can the police perform a search or seizure?

In South Carolina, a search or seizure is only considered lawful if specific legal requirements are met. Law enforcement officers, officers of the court, and other authority figures are expected to adhere to these requirements in order to preserve the rights afforded to South Carolinians under both state and federal law.

The circumstances under which a search or seizure would be considered lawful in South Carolina are as follows:

1. The search is consensual: If an individual freely gives their consent for law enforcement to search and/or seize their property, the search would be considered lawful as long as the accused individual is not coerced or misled into giving their consent.
2. There is a search warrant in place: If the law enforcement officer(s) have obtained a search warrant signed by a judge, a search or seizure would be considered lawful as long as the actions of law enforcement directly align with the stipulations of the warrant. In layman’s terms, this means that law enforcement may only search or seize property explicitly listed in the search warrant.
3. Exigent circumstances: Law enforcement officers may conduct a warrantless search if exigent circumstances exist. For example, if they reasonably believe that waiting to obtain a warrant would result in the destruction of evidence, escape of a suspect, or harm to someone. These situations typically still require probable cause to justify the search.
4. The search is conducted during a lawful arrest: When a suspect is lawfully arrested, the police have the right to search the individual and the area in their immediate control for potential threats to the officers’ safety. Similarly, South Carolina law stipulates that law enforcement may enter a residence to search for a suspect for whom an arrest warrant has been issued as long as the address being searched is named as the suspect’s residence. However, law enforcement cannot enter the residence of any third party not named in an arrest warrant without a search warrant.
5. Evidence of a crime is in plain view: Under what is known as the plain view doctrine, law enforcement may search or seize property if they are lawfully present at a location and evidence related to a crime is in plain view.

If any of the above criteria are met, law enforcement may be within their rights to perform a search or to seize personal property. Some of these requirements can be a bit subjective, however, so it is critical for any individual accused of a crime to consult experienced legal counsel in order to verify whether law enforcement was justified in searching and/or seizing their property as part of their investigation.

When is a search or seizure considered “unreasonable” in South Carolina?

While the law provides clear guidelines for what constitutes a legal and reasonable search, it is still not uncommon for law enforcement or other authority figures to inadvertently violate an individual’s Fourth Amendment rights during an investigation or arrest.

In South Carolina, an illegal or unreasonable search could look like:

• Officers entering a personal residence without a warrant and in the absence of any of the exceptions outlined above.
• Officers present a warrant that includes inaccurate or overly broad information.
• Officers seize property not explicitly included in the warrant.
• Officers claim a search was consensual when the consent was actually coerced.
• Officers intentionally prolong a traffic stop without reasonable cause to believe that a crime has been committed.

In South Carolina, lawmakers have recently introduced legislation stating that the smell of marijuana alone does not constitute sufficient probable cause for searching a person or their property. Under the current law, officers have the right to search an individual or seize their property if they claim that the smell of marijuana is present in their immediate vicinity.

The bill introduced in the House would dictate that law enforcement officers could not perform an unwarranted search or seizure based on the smell of marijuana alone. At this time, the bill has a long way to go before becoming law, so South Carolinians need to remember that police still have the right to perform a search if they claim that the smell of marijuana is readily apparent to them.

What to do if you think you’ve been illegally searched

If you have recently been targeted by law enforcement for a search or seizure of a person or property, you deserve to know that your rights were protected. If you feel that the police performed a search in violation of the law, it is critical that you seek legal assistance as soon as possible to prevent law enforcement from attempting to use unlawful evidence against you.

The experienced team at the Law Offices of A. Randolph Hough is firmly committed to helping clients protect themselves against the potentially devastating consequences of illegal searches and seizures. With offices in Charleston and Columbia, we are highly skilled at navigating the legal system in South Carolina and are dedicated to providing the best possible support to clients from all walks of life. If you are facing criminal charges or feel that a recent search or seizure may have breached your constitutional rights, give us a call today at 803-291-4937 or fill out our contact form to schedule a free consultation with a member of our team.