An Arrest Warrant For Your Housemate Can Mean Legal Trouble For You

Many of us would love to have our own space, an apartment or house where we can keep the kitchen as neat or as messy as we choose and watch movies late at night on the big TV in the living room instead of on our tiny phone screen with the sound turned low or with our earbuds.  Unfortunately, few of us can afford to rent an entire apartment or house without financial contributions from other adults, especially if there are children living in the house, too.  Whether you are living with family members, friends, or virtual strangers that you met because you rented rooms in the same house out of economic necessity, your housemates’ legal problems can easily become your legal problems.  Simply by living in the same household as someone convicted of a crime, you are not automatically guilty by association.  Despite this, if someone who lives with you and your children brings illegal drugs into your house, you are vulnerable to being investigated for maintaining an unsafe environment for your children.  If you are facing legal trouble after police found illegal drugs in a house where you live with your children, contact a Pittsburgh drug crime lawyer.

What Happens If Police Catch You in the Act of a Crime While Serving a Warrant to Arrest Your Roomie?

An arrest warrant is not the same thing as a search warrant.  The court issues an arrest warrant when there is evidence that a person has committed a crime, and the police may arrest the person wherever they find him or her and may search for the person at his or her home or workplace or anywhere else they think the person might be.  A search warrant gives police the right to search a certain item of property, such as a house or office, because they have persuaded the court that they are likely to find additional evidence of a specific crime there.  Sometimes arrests occur when defendants or suspected accomplices are present at the location when the police execute a search warrant.

In the News

In February 2024, police in Pittsburgh went to a house where three-year-old twin boys lived with Aniya Macon, whom news reports described as the boys’ legal guardian.  The reason for the visit was that police were executing an arrest warrant for Lorenzo Stanley, who was present at the house, although news reports did not indicate whether he lived there or was just visiting.  The arrest warrant was for drug possession with intent to deliver.  While inside the house, police saw illegal drugs next to a medical device used by one of the children.  Therefore, they also arrested Macon and charged her with child endangerment.  The children were taken to the hospital to be evaluated.

Contact Gary E. Gerson About Criminal Defense Cases

A criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing criminal charges because police found illegal drugs in your house.  Contact the law offices of Gary E. Gerson in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania about your case.

Source:

cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/two-people-arrested-after-large-quantity-of-drugs-found-inside-home-with-3-year-old-twin-boys/