Ok so i was aware i was being tailed by a cop, i pull into a parking lot and as soon as i park he puts his lights on. He comes up and i ask what i am being stopped for and he tells me i was driving "suspiciously". I asked if there was a traffic violation and he doesn't reply. He asks me how much pot is in the car and i deny that there is any and dont say anything else. He says he smells it and has probable cause to search, so he does. He found my pipe and about .5. In the police report he wrote there was a description of my car, except green (mine is grey) that looked like a drunk driver, and that he followed me and i was veering to the right and quickly jerked the car back to the center of the road. I dont rememeber doing this at all, but is that even means to pull someone over? Basically what i am asking is did he have any right to pull me over? I was also never told my miranda rights, all he did was put my in the back of the car and tell me i was arrested.
well, he can pretty much make up a reason. He says you swerved, that's a reason. Did he give you a sobriety test? Mouth swab for drugs? Breathelyzer? The fact that he wrote the wrong car color, could come in useful. Also, the fact that he didn't read you the miranda rights could also come in handy. The only thing i can tell you right now, is get a lawyer. Tell him your side of the story and see what his take on this whole ordeal is. Him searching your car on the basis of weed smell, his word against yours. So yea, get a lawyer
oh, one more question are you black? Not tryign to be a racist, but maybe you can use that to your defense. say you were racially profiled, again lawyer bro your best friend.
In Cali, yes. He has the right to stop you if he had a call of a possible drunk driver. DID he? idk, but the dispatch would have a record of it. As for the swerving or weaving, it is his word on what he observed unless there is video in his car. As for rights, they aren't required by law to read you you're rights, however, anything that you say after the arrest cannot be admitted as evidence if you have been questioned without your Miranda Warning.
You truthfully need an attorney to go through every detail of the arrest report and try to find a hole in it. Its not cheap. Pretty much cops can say what they want and judges are going to take their word for it.
yea, public defender is a last resort. i had a real good lawyer that got me outta my dwi about 6 yrs ago. Well, can't say he was real good but he was a retired judge from the court i had my case in. That definetely came in handy.
Like everyone else said, get a lawyer. I think you might be able to fight it and win, but then again im just a 20 year old pot head.
I don't think you'll be able to beat this one. He did have the right to pull you over. They can always use the smell excuse to search you because that does give them probable cause. From personal experience, I wouldn't waste money on a lawyer. It won't do any good. Unless you have the money to blow. A public pretender won't do any good either.... but they are only like 100 bucks at the most. Notice I said public pretender. Sorry to hear that man.... You'll probably be put on probation. It's the cops word against yours on the miranda thing. Same thing happened to me once. I brought it up in court but didn't work. (supposed to get dropped if they don't)
pretty much, you have to pay a bunch of lawyer fee's and go through annoying boring court dates, then it'll either get thrown out or you'll get a small fine, maybe have to go to a driving class or something. basically the cop just caused you a whole lot of trouble but there'll be no permanent ramifications. EDIT: what state are you in?