An attorney friend of mine introduced me to an interesting challenge in criminal cases involving confidential informants, undercover agents, and controlled buys of controlled substances. As everyone knows, the police cannot enter a home without permission, or conduct a warrantless search of a home without consent of the residents. There are exceptions of course.
But what if an accused person consents to an undercover agent entering the home, without knowing that the undercover agent is working for the police? In that situation, it should be the argument of a good criminal defense attorney that the undercover agent is a government agent, and that consent for the government to enter the home is not valid. As a result, all of the information obtained by the undercover agent, including the controlled substances purchased, should be excluded from evidence.
There are no Minnesota court decisions in cases that apply to this scenario. While this scenario has applied to a few of our clients in Anoka County and Hennepin County, usually acceptable pleas have been reached before our clients could test the Court of Appeals with these facts.
If you have questions about drug charged, please contact me today. To learn more about our law firm, please visit our firm’s website.
-John Scott
Direct: 6122-840-8961
