What Are My Rights When Oklahoma Law Enforcement Comes to My Door?

Remember, first and foremost, you have the right to remain silent, okay? Anytime you interact with the police, this is a general one that you have. It’s kind of limited in some circumstances, but at least when they come to your door, you have a right to remain silent basically the entire time, okay? I would exercise that right, that’s just some general advice, and I would make it clear that you’re doing so, okay? You’re not ignoring them, you’re simply choosing not to answer, okay? So you can say something as simple as, “I’m choosing to exercise my right to silence.” Not the right terms technically, but it’s fine, it’s close enough, okay?

Now, if they ask, “May we come in and search or look around a little bit?” No, do not do that, okay? They’re not allowed to come inside your house without a search and/or arrest warrant, okay? If you really want to talk to them, step outside, close the door behind you, and then speak with them if you really want to, okay? Leaving the door ajar, open, can mean this door is unopened and they’re allowed to walk in. Okay? So make sure you close that, and make it clear. Now, if they do try to enter like if you open the door and they just brush past you, do not resist, don’t resist, okay? They step on your constitutional rights, anything that they find can be suppressed later, but now is not the time to put up that fight, okay? That is for your attorney to do later. Now, this disappears, that right to throw evidence out if you let them in. Once you say, “Yeah, sure, you can look around,” you’ve given them free access to look through the whole house, okay? So don’t do that.

Now, if they do have a warrant asked to produce that for you, okay? Because it should say or it will say on the warrant, excuse me, it will say what they’re looking for, where they’re looking for it, who it might be on, who they’re allowed to search, who they’re looking for, and they’re allowed to search that, okay? So once more, just to really reiterate, don’t resist, but you should be able to see what’s on this warrant, okay? All right, go ahead and search.

Now after they’re done, assuming you’re not going to be taken in, you will be provided a copy of this warrant for any future proceedings involved with this search, okay? Now, if you want to ask any further questions about your Fourth Amendment rights to unreasonable search and seizure, I’d be glad to speak with you about this. As I said before, my name’s Ty Smith of Wirth Law Office. I’m a criminal defense attorney in Oklahoma. You can find me at theoklahomacityattorney.com, or you can call my office at (405) 888-5400. I’d be glad to speak with you about this. All right, thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you.