Right to refuse search?

Question

I'm very confused about my right to refuse a search of my car by a cop. (this is hypothetical) Okay, say I got pulled over and I play it cool even if i had some sort of illegal substance in my car, and I refuse a search. Then doesn't the cop normally call for a search warrant anyways? Then isn't that really not a right to refuse search?

Same with being breathalyzed. You have the right to say no to one, but can't you get arrested for being suspicious then the charges laid even harder, despite innocense or not.

To me, that doesn't sound very fair or logical. Any help? Maybe I have some of this misunderstood, but please don't preach to me about how I shouldn't do drugs or drink and drive...THIS IS HYPOTHETICAL and I'm only asking because I'm studying government in school and was afraid to ask my teacher.

Answer 1

If the officer has probable cause to believe that you have contraband in your vehicle, he does not need your consent to search it (he may ask anyway, either to be polite, see what your reaction will be, or avoid paperwork associated with getting a warrant).

As far as the breath test goes, most states have "implied consent" laws. This means (basically) that you agreed to take a breath test upon the request of an officer when you got your driver's license. Refusing the test later can cost you your license for not keeping your end of the bargain.

Answer 2

You should not be afraid to ask your teacher. That's what they are there for. Believe me, they would probably give you extra points for asking a good question.

It is your constitutional right not to allow the police to search your vehicle. But, there is exceptions to which the police can search it. If there is probable cause which is a higher standard than reasonable suspicion. Contraband in plain view, Inventory search based on an impound (vehicle not legal or driver not valid etc.) A K-9 dog hits on drugs (creates probable cause that drugs are in the vehicle). Since you mentioned it, a search warrant also requires probable cause. Police can not get a search warrant without it.

A breathlyzer is a whole other issue. A driver or minor can be requested to submit to a breath test with probable cause, such as smell of intoxicants, behavior, driving ability, speech etc. A breath test is only one reason for an arrest, there are many other determinates to back up the officers decision to arrest. The consequences usually aren't harder if you refuse, but an officer is more likely to get a warrant to draw blood and get his evidence anyway (using probable cause to obtain the warrant as described above).

Answer 3

In California...

You can refuse the search, plain and simple. The officer could try and obtain a search warrant. The funny thing with vehicles is, if he has enough probable cause (PC) to get a search warrant for your car, he doesn't need a search warrant. Vehicles are different than homes and businesses. He can toss it then and there.
ON A SIDE NOTE - Your attorney will not be present for a probable cause search, nor will it be thrown out in court if the PC was solid.

You can refuse the breathalyzer too but....you will automatically lose your license for 1 year for refusing it. Its in the California Vehicle Code. You get a license you automatically submit to breathalyzers or lose your license.

Answer 4

The main rule is the rule of "probable cause". If the officer has reasonable grounds to believe you have something illegal, he can search without a warrant.

For breathalyzers, the situation is a little different. Since trying to get a warrant would result in a loss of evidence (your BAC might change by then), they can do the test immediately. If it then turns out that the search was illegal, then the evidence will not be admissible.

Answer 5

Suggest everyone here watch these videos, they will explain the law and give you some good advice on how to conduct yourself around a police officer.

Take a look at this video...watch the first part."busted the citizen's guide to surviving police ecounters"

Also watch "refusing police entry into your home"

"getting ticketed or intimidated by the police" has some good additional advice.

And for example officers will ask you a tricky question like " you don't have any drugs in the car do you?, do you mind if I take a look inside?"
If you say no to this question you are saying "yes" it's ok to search my car".

I think the officers must be actors, they are real jerks, but it shows what could be a real life situation and how to handle it.

I think what I learned from watching these is to always be polite and repectful to officers.

Answer 6

Read the fourth amendment. That's the base of your right to refuse a search in your car or your person.
The cop can go a get a search warrant but for that he has to go to the court and show evidence that justify a search. It's not going to happen if you're pulled over.
He can do the search anyway if he has a reasonable justification and this is something that you may end up arguing about in court. It's evident if you have a dead body in the back but it's not so evident if there's a vial, a cigarette, a bottle.
If the cop do the search anyway I wouldn't advice you to resist but clearly state that you refuse the search. Hopefully, it will be registered in the tape.
You can't get arrested for being suspicious. But I'm not telling that it's not going to happen (it did already).

It doesn't sound logical because it's not. This is the problem with socialism, social issues take precedence over all including freedom and civil liberties. You end up being criminalized for your thoughts or for the chances of being a criminal in the future.
The concept of the drug use as a crime is justified because there's a relation (allegedly) between it and the commission of crimes. You're not being punished because you committed a crime, you're being punished because there's a high probability that you will.
Same with alcohol, weapons or low ride pants.

Read the Bill of rights and you'll see that you should be able to eat, smoke and drink whatever you want. If you commit a crime as a consequence of that, you should be punished for it. The truth is that crime (the real one, damage to a person and /or his properties) is committed by sober criminals with clear intent and premeditation.

It's time to get the heck away of socialism and start to think in terms of freedom. Think about that the next time you vote. There are candidates supporting libertarian ideas, less socialism and less government.

Answer 7

You can refuse any search, but the officer (9 times out of 10) is not going to ask if he can search unless he has probable cause, or he sees something in plain sight or smells something he has probable cause to search without consent. Before he can conduct any search on a stop it has to be a lawful stop to begin with. He can't pull you over because he thinks you have something. If he pulls you over for speeding and writes you a summons or gives you a verbal warning and smells/sees alcohol or marijuana then he does not need consent. It's a broad topic and the basics are in the fourth amendment.

Answer 8

First of all, the breathalzyer one is easy... you already consented to that when you signed your drivers license. It's called "implied consent".

As far as the search of your car, you do have the right to refuse. However, the officer may search anyway. In order for the search to be lawful, the officer simply needs to articulate the reason he thinks the search will turn up something illegal. People do have a lesser expectation of privacy in a vehicle, the legal precedent is cited in the case law Carroll v. United States, commonly referred to as the Carroll Doctrine.

Answer 9

If the officer asks for permission to search, you can decline. Usually the next step is to ask for a narcotics K-9 to walk around the vehicle, and if the K-9 alerts on drugs in your car he'll have probable cause to search without your permission.

Breathalyser...many states have an "implied consent" to testing, if you're driving on public roads. If you refuse, automatic license suspension. They can't just say "I don't like the way you look" and arrest you.

Answer 10

you may refuse orally or in writing. you may not face as much as the officer's seek. something got here across throughout the time of a seek the place there grew to become into no longer adequate in all possibility reason for the quest isn't admissible in court docket in case you refused. A pat down isn't a seek. basically a real looking suspicion is mandatory for a pat down. Any contraband got here across during the pat down is admissible and helps an arrest. seek incident to the arrest is often criminal. the priority-unfastened definition of authentic looking suspicion is a real looking individual ( that modifications all the time) wherein suggested individual in the comparable situations might desire to particularly have confidence a individual has been, is, or is approximately to be engaged in criminal interest. It relies upon upon the totality of situations, and can effect from a mix of specific data, in spite of the fact that if each condition is in my opinion possibility free. in all possibility reason is the authentic looking thought that a individual has dedicated against the regulation