Is this legal and what to do?

[twistedthrottle]

This situation occured last sat night...We were sitting around my place smokin some green waiting for my buddy to get of work so he can buy us some beer.

A little later he arrives and me and him go on a beer run to the drive-thru. I was stoned as hell but made sure not to take anything with me. we get 2 cases of beer and some girly drinks for the ladies.

On the way home we get pulled over. Well my friend, Joe, is driving another buddies truck for the night so when the cop asked for reg and prof of insurance we have a little trouble finding it. He sees the beer and asks about it. Since I am only 19 we give him some bull shit story about how he is dropping me off and then going home to drink.


Well the girly drinks were all laying around my feet so he asks about them. He procedes to come around the car to my side. I open the door and he asks me to step out. The cop asked if I had been drinking or was under the influence of any other drugs. I tell him no sir. The whole time he was questioning us we were very polite. The cop then asks if any of the firly drinks were open. I told him no as none of them were. He then asks me if I have any weapons or drugs on me. I tell him no. He then half ass searches me. He checks the back pockets and feels a can of chew and a wallet. I confirm that this is correct. he then feels the outside of my front pockets. He asks what was in my front pocket and I tell him my keys. He then checks my jacket pockets were he finds nothing.

After all of this he checks my side of the truck while my friend is still in it and realizes I dont have a damn open container. After this he lets us go and we continue on with our night.

This issue has been bothering me because I was searched for no reason and was never asked. If it was just the truck he searched I would be upset because he had his suspicions about an open container but he had no fuckin right to search me. This was illegal correct? And what can I do about this...

I have a friend who works on this same cities police force. He is a real cool guy although i havent talked to him in prob 6 months. I think I might call him and ask him about this tomorrow.

[smokeitup421]

i'd just forget about it, who cares if they searched u illegally or not, they didnt find anything. i'd be more worried if they did find stuff on you, then you could probably argue in court that it was an illegal search.

[theVirtuoso]

Cops can legally do a weapons pat down on your exterior clothing, that's it... they can feel pockets, but cannot stick their hands in them.

[Aceofbladez]

its all about probable cause. There were cases of alcohol in the car, and people who could have been under 21. In my state (minnesota) it is the law to have any alcohol seperated from the passenger part of the car, i.e. it MUST be in the trunk, no matter what.

The police's job is to intimidate. Thats what they are all about. They really make you feel guilty and they sound like you HAVE to agree with them, but thats not necessarily the case. They do have to ask to do a search of the vehicle, but not a visual search. They can look in the car from outside and if they see anything suspicious they can do a search (remember probable cause?)

Anyway, you made a good choice to leave all your shit at home. Its not worth it to get busted, even once.

be happy and be safe.

[rastasman420]

Originally Posted by theVirtuoso

Cops can legally do a weapons pat down on your exterior clothing, that's it... they can feel pockets, but cannot stick their hands in them.

Thanks, thats actually the best inFormation I've heard on this site in a while.

Originally Posted by theVirtuoso

Cops can legally do a weapons pat down on your exterior clothing, that's it... they can feel pockets, but cannot stick their hands in them.

There needs to be "reasonable suspicion" that you're armed with a weapon as per Terry v. Ohio to warrant a pat down, or a "Terry frisk" as it is called. Based on the information given, it appears that they did not have "reasonable suspicion" to search you.

Alcohol, which was not open, does not rise to the level of "reasonable suspicion" that you were armed. You were a passenger and displayed no behavior (at least from what you're telling us) to indicate that you might be armed thus warranting a frisk for the officer's safety. Without reasonable suspicion, an officer can ask for consent to pat you down, which did not occur in this case.

So yes, this frisk was unconstitutional, but it happens all the time, and I know how you're feeling. You feel violated and pissed off, and it sucks because unless you're willing to spend a lot of money and time there's nothing you can do.

[TheNightGoes90]

Originally Posted by UrbanAchiever

There needs to be "reasonable suspicion" that you're armed with a weapon as per Terry v. Ohio to warrant a pat down, or a "Terry frisk" as it is called. Based on the information given, it appears that they did not have "reasonable suspicion" to search you.

Alcohol, which was not open, does not rise to the level of "reasonable suspicion" that you were armed. You were a passenger and displayed no behavior (at least from what you're telling us) to indicate that you might be armed thus warranting a frisk for the officer's safety. Without reasonable suspicion, an officer can ask for consent to pat you down, which did not occur in this case.

So yes, this frisk was unconstitutional, but it happens all the time, and I know how you're feeling. You feel violated and pissed off, and it sucks because unless you're willing to spend a lot of money and time there's nothing you can do.

This is correct.

As far as your situation is concerned, though, I don't see any reason to raise hell about it. If you'd been caught with something, then you'd have a legitimate reason to press the issue.

The best case scenario when you're pulled over by police is to have nothing on you. It's true that there are limitations on the searches officers can conduct depending on the circumstances, but most of the tests utilized to determine if probable cause exists are vague enough that judges or juries are given the power to make a decision based on what they would have expected a reasonable person in the situation to do. There's quite a bit of wiggle room there with no guarantees that your side of the argument will prevail.

Be extremely careful when driving. If you must bring items that could incriminate you, keep them locked away in the trunk. It's much more difficult for officers to be able to search a locked compartment than it would be to conduct a search of the interior of your vehicle.

Also, keep in mind that your entire vehicle can be searched if you've been arrested formally. Do not anticipate that you'll be protected from police searches even after you've been apprehended.

[letsmokeasweet]

i been busted 2 times and i also did other things so let me share you my basic experiance with the legal system in tx. it does not matter whether it is legal or not. last time i was pulled over, cop saw a ziplock bag in the glove box asked what it was, it was just junk i told him it was nothing he said to "step out" all nice and polite and all i did, he asked if he could search the car, i told him it was 430 in the morning and i was on my way to work, which was true, and i basicly didnt want to deal with his crap lol, so i told him no there was no need to, the whole time i was nice and respectful, and he said he could anyways, so he did and 5 mins later he finaly found my pipe and bud under the back seat. when i told the atty this he said it didnt mater, bla bla bla. hell it even said it in the report. so they have a way to get out of that, and its ur word againts his, and all that. so what did i figure out? that your lawyer is more then likley going to be on their side. he will act like he is there for you, but chances are the lawyer does this all day long. he knows the process and he knows how the da wants to handle the case and what they want. so unless you get a badass high price lawyer you will not get out of it. its a money maker for everyone. the bondsman. the lawyer. the courts. the drug consulars. the jails.