I am going to call and get a search warrant for your home. Then that means you get charged with a felony, you get charged with a felony. >> no felony. How What felony can you recite what code that is? I'm a lawyer, sir. >> Are you? >> Yeah. I'm an attorney. So >> All right. >> I understand what's legal, what's permissible, and what's not. >> I have a physical bench warrant for her arrest. >> Okay, I don't see it. >> It's in my car. >> Okay. And I've asked you to go off of the property. >> What kind of >> Would you bring it so I can see it? >> In this video, a cop showed up at a private home looking to arrest a woman who had allegedly missed a court hearing, but he quickly ran into a major problem. Her boyfriend was an attorney, and he knew exactly what questions to ask. The lawyer demanded to see the bench warrant, challenged the officer's authority to enter the home, and refused to simply let his girlfriend be taken away without proper legal process. When the officer started threatening a search warrant, and even claimed the homeowner could face a felony, the attorney pushed back even harder. Watch how this tense confrontation unfolds when the officer decides to take the dispute straight to the judge. >> It is considered curtilage, and the Supreme Court says that once a private homeowner, private property, expressly says that they don't want you on their property, more than including the curtilage, which is open to any general member of the public, that after that, it's [clears throat] it's it's a civil rights violation. >> Okay, then I will I will do this, okay? I will step to my car. I am going to call and get a search warrant for your home. Then that means you get charged with a felony, you get charged with a felony. >> How What felony can you recite what code that is? I'm a lawyer, sir. >> Are you? >> Yeah. I'm an attorney. So >> All right. >> I understand what's legal, what's permissible, and what's not. And if there is, you know, an issue with Ms. Behanish, she can handle that the proper means through and documented paperwork. >> I have a physical bench warrant for her arrest. >> Okay, I don't see it. >> It's in my car. >> Okay. And I've [clears throat] asked you to go off of the property. >> Look at my >> Would you bring it so I can see it? >> I'm not trying There's I'm not disrespecting you as a person. I'm not being difficult, sir. >> I'm not trying to do that. I'm going to call the judge and I'm going to explain to the judge what you're trying to do and what you're trying >> I'm All I'm doing is standing on my right, sir. I haven't broken any rule laws or codes or statutes. And technically, I'm After asking to leave the property, it is considered trespassing if you don't leave. Am I Am I incorrect? >> Is this your house? Did she not ask you to leave today? >> No, she did not ask me. >> She said if you would not >> You can ask him to leave. >> my private property. >> what he's trying to do. >> Because I don't want to be involved in this. >> That's fine. I mean, like I said, I will just call Get the judge on the phone, get a search warrant. >> Okay. >> Hey, your honor, how are you? Yeah. No, he's not talking to anybody. He just hit his phone like this and put it up to his ear and said, "Hello." >> meeting that you guys were supposed to be at? And you guys missed it? >> A meeting? >> I That's what he said. There was a meeting you guys were supposed to be at. She was supposed to be at. I don't know. >> I didn't know that people have meetings. >> There was a meeting and you didn't show. >> You You can tell him that you don't want him to come back on the property. If he does, even if he takes Coke to jail by forcing entry or whatever, listen, he's still is liable and it's a civil rights violation. You're going to get paid like hundreds of thousands of dollars paid. I'm not bullshitting at all. They have You haven't done anything wrong. >> No, I know. >> And then in order, he threatened you with arrest already. >> Yes. >> Both of us. Felony arrest. And what have we done? Have we have injured anybody by through negligence or intention? No. Has he done that? No. >> I don't know what to do. >> She took off from me from her house and >> Took off? Now he's implying that she's on the run. >> He said that you guys hid from him. >> No, we just stopped and kept doing what we were doing. That's not hiding. See how he's not coming back? >> The major problem here is the officer's attempt to turn an asserted private property dispute into a potential felony threat without clearly identifying the specific criminal statute that supposedly applied. The man repeatedly asked what law he had violated and asked to see the alleged arrest warrant while the officer continued referring to a warrant that was supposedly sitting in his vehicle. The Supreme Court has made clear that the area immediately surrounding a home, the curtilage, receives Fourth Amendment protection and the ordinary implied license for someone to approach a home does not give police unlimited authority to remain there or conduct investigative activity beyond what the homeowner has permitted. Florida versus Jardines specifically addresses those limits while Collins versus Virginia reinforces the constitutional protection given to curtilage. The key issue, however, is not simply whether the property was private. Criminal trespass is governed by the applicable state statute and the precise facts concerning permission and the owner's demand to leave. If officers are going to threaten someone with a felony or claim they have authority to remain on private property, they need to identify the actual legal basis for that action and follow the proper warrant or judicial process when one is required. Here, the man did exactly what put the officer's claims under scrutiny. He repeatedly demanded the legal authority, challenged the alleged trespass, and asked to see the warrant rather than simply accepting the officer's threats.