Can a cop do this?...?

Question

A cop stopped a family friend because he said he was speeding, so he asked for his license and stuff, the cop without a warrant, searched his car, and found drugs. The drugs had not been used, he was just going across state to sell them. Can a cop search a car without a warrant?..I imagine the cop suspected something. He will now be serving 8 years in jail. But isn't there something that can be done against the cop if there is a flaw, to reduce his sentence or something?...He is from Italy, and he does not have papers, so he will be deported.

Answer 1

So your 'family friend' is an illegal immigrant ("he does not papers") he drives without a valid license and transports drugs across the state "to sell them". WTF is the problem with him getting arrested?

In this situation most cops I know (without even knowing about the drugs) would be impounding your friend's car. During the inventory search (for which we don't need a warrant) we would find his stash.

For him to be jailed for 8 years, this wasn't a little weed, I would guess at a couple K's. Coke or Heroin?

Cop should have got a commendation. As for your worthless "friend", don't do the crime if you can't do the time. Expect him to come out of prison "changed". Very, very "changed".....

Answer 2

I assume this is taking place in the US. If so, the answer to your question is that the cop does not need a warrant. The cop can legally stop anyone who is speeding. No search warrant is necessary. Essentially, you only need a search warrant if the cop wants to search your house. Cars are exempted from the warrant requirement, because cars are mobile and you can get rid of evidence fast.

Of course, the cop needs probable cause to search someone's car. That means he needs some kind of reasonable suspicioun that there is evidence of a crime in the car. Speeding doesn't cut it. The cop needs some individualized suspicion that there are drugs in this particular car. That the driver looks like a meth user doesn't cut it.

However, there are exceptions to this, too. One, if the driver gives consent to search, the cop can search. However, lots of people are slightly intimidated when approached by a cop and asked for consent to search. The person doesn't really know his rights. Probable cause is a slippery concept. And the cop has a gun and has an authoritative bearing. The person is afraid of disobeying the cop and maybe going to jail. And maybe the person doesn't really think the cop will find that little baggie of meth. So people tend to consent to searches. It is totally illogical when you think about it, but people just do it. They know they have 1/2 an ounce of meth in the car or 3 pounds of pot in the trunk, but they consent and the cop finds it. Why? I don't know. But people do it.

Another exception to the probable cause requirement is a search incident to arrest. If the driver is arrested, the passenger compartment of the car can be searched. If it's the policy of the police department to inventory the car in certain circumstances, the car can be searched for that reason, too. The whole car and not just the passenger compartment. So if the cop has a little something on you and can arrest you, your car can be searched. And that's even if you are arrested 100 feet or so from the car. These exceptions apply even if you aren't arrested. If the cop decided to let you go, but could have arrested you, he can search you. And the cops know all these tricks. Worse, they know how to keep your rights from you and make you think you have to give into their demands.

And if they have nothing, a certain percentage of cops will search you anyway. If they find nothing, what are you going to do about it. If they find something, they'll just write in the report that you consented to the search. Or they'll find one of the many other justifications they know about and write that in the report. Sound unjust? What are you going to do about it? If it's the cops word against the word of the defendant, the cop wins that 100% of the time. Bad cops who are smart know to claim a justification that cannot easily be contradicted. For instance, in one case that I was involved in (well in which I was the defense attorney), the cop said that he stopped a guy because the car didn't have a front license plate. The stop led to a DUI and a search incident to arrest and then to finding meth in the car. The defendant, who was arrested for meth possesion, said that this was wrong. The car had both plates. I had an investigator take photos of the car to see if it had two plates. It did. All the while the defendant is in custody. Finally, I was given the inventory sheet of the car, which was created, because the car was towed away. Another cop, not the arresting officer who wrote the report stating why he stopped the defendant, did the inventory sheet. It clearly stated the car had two license plates. Opps. The DA had to dismiss the case (this DA, like many others was an honest guy), but not before my client spent 1 1/2 months in jail. If that cop had said he stopped my guy for speeding, my client probably would have gone to prison (that's what we were talking about before I was able to get the case dismissed). If you can show unequvocally that the cop is lying, you can win. If it's your word against the cop, forget it. You lose.

Also, if your friend was on probation, that's another exception to the probable cause rule. If you are on probation, the cop can search your stuff. Of course, the cop needs to know that the person is on probation. But with their computer systems, etc., they have immediate access to these things.

I don't know what happened with your friend other than he got stopped for speeding. He may have given consent to search. The cop may have had probable cause to search him. Perhaps he was on searchable probation. Maybe the cop lied. But no warrant was ever needed. So more than likely he'll go down for a drug offense. Perhaps he'll go down for a sales charge. But the bottom line is that your rights are not as absolute as you think. Your rights are full of exceptions and the police know how to get around them and you don't.

Answer 3

Cops can indeed conduct warrant-less searches. In fact, most searches are done without a warrant: the searches are done based on probable cause that a person has - or is - committing a crime.

Quickly stuffing something in your pocket when you see a cop gives that cop grounds to search your pocket right there, on the spot. From the cop's point of view, it could be a gun, and it is an officer safety issue.

Without knowing the facts, I can only guess that the cop saw something amiss and acted upon it. That certainly will be the way the cop will explain himself. It's impossible to know if the cop violated your friend's rights without know the whole story.

Answer 4

There are a lot of reasons that a Police Officer can legally search a vehicle. Too many to list here. If you really want to know how, do some legal research. The reasons listed here under your question are exactly why I answer this way. Geez, there are some insane people out there. Trust me, the legal reasons to search have nothing to do with the Patriot Act, a nazi regime, or corrupt cops.
And as one relativly intellegent person said, if there were something illegal about the search, it would have come up at trial.

Answer 5

Yes, and I am so glad he did. The fact that you justify the drugs by stating they had not been used, he was just going across state to sell them, shows your ignorance at the magnitude of the crime.

Thank God he will be deported. We have enough homegrown criminals without illegal aliens coming over and adding to the strain placed on law enforcement to protect our children and families from illegal drug use and abuse. We taxpayers contribute money to those hard working officers and deserve cleaner streets. Not streets filled with losers like your friend who are here illegally, using the resources paid for by our tax-dollars, not his as he isn't paying taxes. Not losers who think it is okay to break the law and hurt others for their own financial gain. I only hope they do this more in the days to come and boot others back to their home countries.

If you really love the USA and want to be here, you do so legally and you follow the laws that are in place. There is no excuse for this type of behavior. You ought to hang your head in shame for acting like he was the one wronged. You should call the parents of the missing girls in Texas. The ones who were taking by drug Cartels to be sexually abused and murdered. Whose bodies are never found. You should call the parents of children who have overdosed. You should call the children of parents who have abandoned them to go be with their addictions. You should tell them you think it is okay to sell drugs. You should show your face and admit you think drugs are okay. Don't hide behind a computer. Put your face out there.

And don't give me that bull that weed is okay, that is what people usually try first. Then a little acid or some coke. Then it is the meth or crack or heroin. They don't start out on crack. They try weed first and by golly it feels good let me try the next drug.

Drug money finances murderers, rapists, terrorists. People that would kill their own mother if she got in the way. Yet, you are upset with the cop. Perhaps you need to join your friend in his trip home. I am sure you could sell whatever you want in Italy. Oh, wait, they have laws too. Hmm. Wonder why?

Answer 6

If he had probable cause or a reasonable suspicion, then he can search the car. If the search was flawed, the case would be dismissed. But, this issue was (hopefully) probably resolved at trial. The rest is history.

Your family friend is "toast" on this one. Sorry.

In spite of what LOOP said about it: this was law way before the Patriot Act.

Answer 7

Here's the way it works:

1. If there is probable cause to search, he can search.
2. If there isn't probable cause to search, he can ask for permission to search...which is usually (stupidly) granted.

It's so tragic that a guest of our country violated federal and state laws (transporting narcotics) and will be deported. Cry me a river.

Why are you trying to shaft the cop? His job is to prevent crime, and it looks like he did so.

Answer 8

Yup of course they can.. Why would you want to do something against the cop, your friend had drugs and thats illegal and he should not be selling. Now he can deal with the consequences.

Answer 9

Yes he can search if the friend agrees to it. If he had not argreed they would bring in a dog to get reasonable cause. He wasnt using just going to transport them across state lines to sell. He has no papers so he is illegal. I doubt there is any way to reduce his sentence or stop his deportation. This is exactly why laws for immigration need to be enforced.

Answer 10

Unfortunately, police have what I believe to be excessive power in the United States. As the inefficient, corrupt, unmanageable, inefficient Department of Homeland Security takes on more power, our nation will quickly be turned into a police state similar to that of Nazi Germany where neighbors could 'snitch' on neighbors, people could be incarcerated without just cause, and citizens could be arrested on trumped-up, bogus charges - all in the name of "homeland security". As Adolph Hitler once said: "How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don't think." -RKO- 11/22/07