By admin 
Greenville Police recently went to the home of the grandparents of the two men who were with Hayden Panettiere when she died Sunday in a Greenville apartment.
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A police spokesman said they were acting on request for a welfare check for brothers Brian and Zach Hickerson.
No one came to the door.
It’s not known whether anyone was inside, but would they have been required to open the door when police knocked?
Not unless they had a warrant.
Attorney Lauren Taylor, who has offices in Greenville and Daniel Island, says on her website police cannot forcibly enter your home without a good reason, such as the possibility someone is in danger, or a warrant.
“You have more civil rights within your home than you do outside of it,” she said. “Opening a door to communicate can be legally construed as granting consent or providing “plain view/smell” grounds for warrantless entry.”
She said South Carolina law requires you to comply with police if you are in your car or walking, but inside your home you don’t even need to respond to the knock.
Those are basic rights outlined in the U.S. Constitution and the South Carolina Constitution and Code of Laws.
“The South Carolina constitution has the right to privacy provision included in the section prohibiting unreasonable search and seizures, which in turn creates a distinct privacy right that applies both within and outside the search and seizure context,” Charleston attorney Dale Savage said.
It’s what’s known in law enforcement as talk and knock.
“Knock and talk is a technique used by police when conducting a criminal investigation into illegal activity either by you, at your house, or both,” Savage said.
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“No officer is permitted to enter your home by force if they do not have a good reason to do so (like a warrant or suspicion of violence or harm to a victim),” Taylor said.
And if they have reason to go in, they must tell you what it is.
They also have to tell you they’re going to break down your door to get in.
“You will have the opportunity to avoid the drama and the property damage by opening the door yourself, knowing that you don’t really have much choice,” Taylor said.
Her advice is simple: no warrant, no emergency, don’t answer the door.
“Opening your door, even a little bit, can give the police a reasonable excuse for entering your home,” she said. “They simply have to say that they saw, smelled, or heard something that caused them to enter, or that they entered with your permission because you opened the door and allowed them in, even if you didn’t actually invite them in.”
Taylor said you can also ask police to go away.
“But don’t expect them to do so,” she said. “They may consider it suspicious that you won’t answer the door or they may be convinced that if they can convince you to, they will be able to find a good reason to arrest you or enter your home as soon as the door is opened.”
She said they may stand outside for a while even if you tell them to leave.
“Still, if you do not answer the door, they cannot stay there forever,” she said. “As long as they don’t have that warrant, they are limited to knocking and ringing the bell and trying to get you to answer,” Taylor said.
Savage said privacy in one’s home is the sacrosanct.
“Police must have some fact or facts that they can articulate before they approach a targeted residence and conduct a knock and talk investigation,” he said. “This stops police from going on a fishing expedition while conducting a criminal investigation at your front door without a legal reason.”
You can let them in, he said, “but if you want to assert your rights and more importantly protect your right against unlawful search and seizures or your privacy rights then you can tell them “No thank you” I’m not interested in talking to you or that you are asserting your fifth amendment right to remain silent.”
“Is this going to make them suspicious? Absolutely. But remember they are already suspicious because they are conducting a criminal investigation,” he added.
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