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Is The Search In R. V. Polesky Reasonable?

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Is the Search in R. v. Polesky Reasonable? On an episode of Law and Order, Mr. Polesky was tried for second degree murder based on the captivation of a murder weapon found under the mattress he sleeps on in Central Park. Section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms states that: “everyone has the right to be secured against unreasonable search or seizure”. Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Schedule B, Constitution Act, 1982, s. 8 [Charter] Although the search that revealed the murder weapon and proved Polesky’s involvement in the murder was done without a warrant, if it can be proven that the individual does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy, the police do not need to obtain a warrant to search. This means that …show more content…

v. Edwards (2009) Based on Canadian laws and jurisprudence it is evident that although the officers did not have a warrant, the search was still reasonable because of Polesky’s diminished expectation of privacy in the park and because of the danger the case poses on society. Mr. Polesky chose to create his sleeping set-up in the middle of one of the busiest parks in New York City, where many people walk and explore every day. It is obvious that a person has the lowest expectation of privacy in public places such as parks because not being allowed to search these areas for danger hazards, poses a risk to the entire society. While the opposition may argue that the cardboard box and mattress in the middle of the park was Mr. Polesky’s home, it does not meet the legal requirements to have a reasonable expectation of privacy because he does not own the land and cannot control who can walk in and out of it. In R. v Edwards a similar situation arose, in which the accused did not have a reasonable …show more content…

v. Polesky, assuming that s. 8 of the Charter was determined to be unreasonable, the seriousness of the Charter- infringing state conduct is very minimal. It is evident that the officers did not intend to infringe Polesky’s rights guaranteed in the Charter because they sincerely thought that they did not need a warrant to search public property. This was evident when analyzing the officers reaction after finding out that the accused claimed his rights were violated by searching without a warrant. The officers intentions were to merely act in good faith out of their concern for society that a murderer could potentially be on the loose. Their goal was to only find the murder weapon to uncover the truth in the case, not to look through any of his personal items. Due to the fact that the officers did not deliberately infringe upon Polesky’s rights and did not understand how searching public property would be considered unlawful, the seriousness of the infringement is on the low end of the

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This applies to Sam Wardlow’s situation in which evidence was founded illegally without a proper search warrant. Also, the weapon that was found in Sam’s bag does not relate to any prior crime that may connect him to. This is not in anyway, allowed for officer Nolan to have even stopped Mr.Wardlow. Possibly, if Sam was connected to a crime beforehand and if the officers did have a proper search warrant. Then there is no way Sam’s rights were violated.

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In this case Kyllo v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled against the vitric of the lower courts on a 5 to 4 vote. The questions that need to be answered in this case, in my opinion serve a bigger purpose then the case at hand. The case itself is about a man named Danny Kyllo who was growing marijuana plants inside his home illegally. An officer of the U.S Interior Department got a tip that this man was illegally growing plants inside his home and went to investigate this. Obviously a tip from an unknown is not enough information to get a warrant to search the man’s property.

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“Probable cause is a reasonable ground for a belief, as, in a criminal case, that the accused was guilty of the crime, or, in a civil case, that grounds for the action existed: used especially as a defense to an action for malicious prosecution (Pearson, pg. 68)”. Probable cause requirements come from the 4th Amendment of the United States Constitution, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures and requires any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause. A law enforcement officer must prove probable cause to a judge in order to search with a warrant. If any search or arrest is made without any warrant the officer must prove that there was any probable cause involved. Any evidence gathered at the crime scene

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Even though there are at times when the privacy of the owner or the driver of the car might be intruded during the searches, the law enforcement officers are permitted to carry on with the search as long as the search is reasonable. ​On the other hand, border search rule guaranteed law enforcement offices to carry out searches on those leaving or entering the country if they happen to be suspected of something illegal. In addition, it can be noted that there is no need for warrant of arrest as long as there is a probable cause (Carmen, 297). ​Therefore, it can be explained that as long as there is sufficient prove to show that the concept of reasonableness can be applied, the legal officers do not require any warrant to conduct searches, arrest or seizure. Nevertheless, when going about those duties, the legal officers are also expected to ensure that they have minimal impact to the privacy of those

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