If you are arrested for criminal trespassing but the charges were dropped by the owner of property, does that nullify any other charges?
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If you are arrested for criminal trespassing but the charges were dropped by the owner of property, does that nullify any other charges?
While on a friends property, a neighbor called police because he thought we were robbing the friends house, and when they showed up I was charged with criminal trespassing and then they found marijuana so I was also charged with misdemeanor possession, but the friend, and owner of the house was not told who was on the property and once he found out, he dropped the trespassing charges, are there any grounds for dismissal or an illegal search by police?
Asked on April 30, 2012 under Criminal Law, Kansas
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
If a search was legal at the time it was conducted, the fact that other, unrelated charges (trespassing and possession have no relationship to each other; obviously you can do one without the other) were later dropped does not invalidate the search or the evidence therefrom. So if you were searched pursuant to an arrest for criminal trespassing, for example, and if the police had good grounds at the time to arrest you, which it seems like they did, the results of the search will be valid and admissable.
Similarly, dismissing one charge does not require the dismissal of unrelated charges.
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