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View Full Version : For those of you with weed in your car...


enkeivette
02-10-2010, 03:39 AM
I learned something interesting tonight in Crim Pro. To keep it simple, if a cop ever asks you for permission to search your car. If you have something to hide, refuse. When he threatens to get a warrant, call his bluff. He's not going to be nice when he finds your stash and he's not going to cut you a deal for allowing him to search your car.

Police don't need to get a warrant to search your vehicle, there is an exception for autos when it comes to search and seizure, if they have probable cause, they can search without your permission and without a warrant. So... if they're asking for your permission or threatening to get a warrant, it means that they don't have probable cause, they don't have the right to search your car and they don't have basis for a warrant.



For the record I don't smoke weed and I don't have anything illegal in my cars. Just thought the rest of you stoners might care to know this.

Vettezuki
02-10-2010, 03:52 AM
Good advice. :thumbs_up:

What's the deal in California, say if I just happen to have a baseball bat laying in my back seat, no glove or anything else. I've heard what sound like urban myths regarding police authority to arrest on the basis you might be up to no good, or possession of a letha weapong, etc. :huh: This sounds a little like bs, even to me . . . or should I put my tin foil hat back on immediately before the government mind beams gain total control?

kdracer73
02-10-2010, 09:26 AM
I am not a smoker or a cop, but I know pot when I smell it. I am always around or in customer cars that are pot users. Most people I have talked to that got busted for pot in thier vehicle, can't believe the cop smelled it before he found it. People, your car STINKS like pot :rolling: I have had to drive cars like Jim Carey in Pet Detective so I could aviod the contact high:eek:

BRIAN
02-10-2010, 01:53 PM
... if they're asking for your permission or threatening to get a warrant, it means that they don't have probable cause, they don't have the right to search your car and they don't have basis for a warrant.
How does this hold up in court? I've only been to court once in my life so I don't realy know the ball game but do I tell the judge. "Hey this officer violated my rights in illegally searching my car. How do I know, because he asked me for permission to search." :huh:

I've been searched before and they didn't ask for permission :o

Vettezuki
02-10-2010, 02:13 PM
. . I've been searched before and they didn't ask for permission :o

If they didn't have probable cause (kinda sticky area), they flat out violated your 4th Amendment rights.

enkeivette
02-10-2010, 02:14 PM
He will need to show probable cause to search without your permission, if he cannot it was a violation of the 4th amendment and the judge will throw the case out. It's really at the judges discretion.

Probably cause is vague, more than bare suspicion, less than condemning evidence. If the cop finds a bag of unscented cocaine in your glove box, it's going to be hard for him to justify his reason for searching. He couldn't have seen it, he couldn't have sensed it otherwise. If you're a moron who smokes in your car and the smell is everywhere, I would say that he does have probable cause to believe that you might be in possession.

If he can't smell anything, he can't see anything, and he can't hear the hooker tied up in your trunk, then he doesn't have probable cause. But if he sees you drive away suspiciously from a known drug dealers house, he probably does have it. Just ask yourself, does he really have a reason to search you? If not, it's likely the judge will agree with you.

enkeivette
02-10-2010, 02:21 PM
As for the baseball bat, that's a tricky one. I would say it depends on the circumstance. driving around at 2am in the hood with it in the passenger seat, probably yes. Driving away from a highschool field at 2pm with it under the hatch, probably not.

enkeivette
02-10-2010, 02:23 PM
If they didn't have probable cause (kinda sticky area), they flat out violated your 4th Amendment rights.

Nice one Ben, you beat me to it. :drink:

Vettezuki
02-10-2010, 02:24 PM
As for the baseball bat, that's a tricky one. I would say it depends on the circumstance. driving around at 2am in the hood with it in the passenger seat, probably yes. Driving away from a highschool field at 2pm with it under the hatch, probably not.

Not really a big fan of connecting the law (with serious consequences against your persona and/or property) to someone's interpretations of circumstance . .

enkeivette
02-10-2010, 02:29 PM
Not really a big fan of connecting the law (with serious consequences against your persona and/or property) to someone's interpretations of circumstance . .

Then you should move to a different country, one without judges. Unless there was a case with almost exactly the same set of facts as yours, from a higher court, the judge is free to use HER discretion. (See, I'm not sexist)

jedhead
02-10-2010, 03:34 PM
When I was in the Navy I spent 6 months as a Master at Arms (ship's policeman) on the aircraft carrier I was assigned to. My partner and I had to pick up a sailor who was busted for possession of pot at another Navy base. According to the report, he was smoking a joint in his car in the EM club parking lot. The base police saw him smoking and started to pound on the window to get him out of the car. He proceed to eat the joint he was smoking and 4 others he had in pocket. Once the pot was consumed he opened the door of the car. The base police searched the car and sailor and found no more pot. He was busted for possession because the NCIS scraped all the interior windows of his car and the scraping tested positive for pot and the car was registered to him. When my partner and I got to the base to pick him up to return to the ship. He told us about what happened and started to cut jokes. He pleaded with us to stop by McDonalds on the way back because he had a bad case of the munchies. Since we were a little hungry we went through the drive thru for him. Potheads were always easy to deal with and were mellow. The drunks were the ones who always wanted to kick my ass, spit on me and cursed my heritage.

Bob

Vettezuki
02-10-2010, 03:38 PM
Then you should move to a different country, one without judges. Unless there was a case with almost exactly the same set of facts as yours, from a higher court, the judge is free to use HER discretion. (See, I'm not sexist)

That's an assessment of facts brought forth in a case where the accused is presumed innocent (once upon a time sorta) and has the opportunity to defend his/herself against the accusation of an actual crime that may have been perpetrated by one party against another party's person/property. NOT, hey he's got a bat, he might be up to no good, let's call it a crime this time for "the good of society." That's horse shit on a grand scale.

There was a guy recently who was asleep, in HIS car, on private property in a parking garage, keys not in the ignition, engine cold . . . engine DIDN'T work. He was drunk and did have a prior DWI. They nailed him for DWI (remember asleep in a car that didn't work on private property in) and put him in jail. That's the kind of thing I'm completely against.

kdracer73
02-10-2010, 03:45 PM
Good advice. :thumbs_up:

What's the deal in California, say if I just happen to have a baseball bat laying in my back seat, no glove or anything else. I've heard what sound like urban myths regarding police authority to arrest on the basis you might be up to no good, or possession of a letha weapong, etc. :huh: This sounds a little like bs, even to me . . . or should I put my tin foil hat back on immediately before the government mind beams gain total control?

Buy a glove, ball and cleats:nunu:

Vettezuki
02-10-2010, 03:46 PM
. . .The drunks were the ones who always wanted to kick my ass, spit on me and cursed my heritage.

Bob

That's a pretty common experience. I think if you asked anybody, "we're going to lock you in a room with a complete stranger who is either a) drunk b) stoned, which do you prefer." I'm pretty sure the stoned would be near 100%. Drunk people are f*cking dangerous. I know, I'm an expert on the subject.

Separate from this discussion, pot, and quite possibly all drugs, should be legalized and the DEA abolished. Then start considering and working on addiction for the societal/medical problem it is rather than if it were a crime. Interestingly there is an increasing number of former law enforcement officers joining this cause.

Vettezuki
02-10-2010, 03:50 PM
Buy a glove, ball and cleats:nunu:


I do have all that gear. Just sometimes I went to the cages at night after work and didn't necessarily have the other equipment with me. Personally I think it's just fine if you have a bat for violent purposes. Self defense is a moral right. If you attack someone else you are criminal . . . when you attack someone else. I'm just against the state guessing people's motives and trying to shape society, that's all. The result in many cases, especially in nasty areas, is that the decent people are sort of disarmed and the thugs are armed to the teeth (WTF do they care about the law.)

enkeivette
02-10-2010, 05:33 PM
That's an assessment of facts brought forth in a case where the accused is presumed innocent (once upon a time sorta) and has the opportunity to defend his/herself against the accusation of an actual crime that may have been perpetrated by one party against another party's person/property. NOT, hey he's got a bat, he might be up to no good, let's call it a crime this time for "the good of society." That's horse shit on a grand scale.

There was a guy recently who was asleep, in HIS car, on private property in a parking garage, keys not in the ignition, engine cold . . . engine DIDN'T work. He was drunk and did have a prior DWI. They nailed him for DWI (remember asleep in a car that didn't work on private property in) and put him in jail. That's the kind of thing I'm completely against.

Oh yeah. I was drunk once and I had to sleep it off in my car. I sat down in my passenger seat and threw the keys near the back window.

Vettezuki
02-10-2010, 05:47 PM
Oh yeah. I was drunk once and I had to sleep it off in my car. I sat down in my passenger seat and threw the keys near the back window.

Once? :sm_up_there:

Check out the law home slice. This was repeated in my traffic school I took a little while back. You can get nabbed for DUI . . . for sleeping it off in your car. Passenger seat, keys thrown in back, etc., doesn't matter. No joke. Kinda of stupid isn't it. I remember once a couple years back I had a corporate function to go to and literally had just one beer too many that put me in a little too buzzed territory. So I sat in the Vette for an hour until I felt completely fine. This responsible act can literally put you at substantial legal risk.

joedls
02-10-2010, 07:58 PM
He will need to show probable cause to search without your permission, if he cannot it was a violation of the 4th amendment and the judge will throw the case out. It's really at the judges discretion.

Probably cause is vague, more than bare suspicion, less than condemning evidence. If the cop finds a bag of unscented cocaine in your glove box, it's going to be hard for him to justify his reason for searching. He couldn't have seen it, he couldn't have sensed it otherwise. If you're a moron who smokes in your car and the smell is everywhere, I would say that he does have probable cause to believe that you might be in possession.

If he can't smell anything, he can't see anything, and he can't hear the hooker tied up in your trunk, then he doesn't have probable cause. But if he sees you drive away suspiciously from a known drug dealers house, he probably does have it. Just ask yourself, does he really have a reason to search you? If not, it's likely the judge will agree with you.

Except for cops can lie about a lot of things. Not that they all do, but I have had my place searched without probable cause. When I read the arrest report, the cops made up a story that gave them probable cause (even though it wasn't true). So at that point it was the word of 2 "good cops" against the word of a "douchebag".

joedls
02-10-2010, 08:02 PM
Separate from this discussion, pot, and quite possibly all drugs, should be legalized and the DEA abolished. Then start considering and working on addiction for the societal/medical problem it is rather than if it were a crime. Interestingly there is an increasing number of former law enforcement officers joining this cause.

:bigthumbsup: :bigthumbsup: :bigthumbsup: :bigthumbsup: :bigthumbsup:

enkeivette
02-11-2010, 04:53 AM
Once? :sm_up_there:

Check out the law home slice. This was repeated in my traffic school I took a little while back. You can get nabbed for DUI . . . for sleeping it off in your car. Passenger seat, keys thrown in back, etc., doesn't matter. No joke. Kinda of stupid isn't it. I remember once a couple years back I had a corporate function to go to and literally had just one beer too many that put me in a little too buzzed territory. So I sat in the Vette for an hour until I felt completely fine. This responsible act can literally put you at substantial legal risk.

It's probably up for interpretation, but I'll check it out. Yeah I don't drink very much. I've been drunk maybe twice, tipsy less than ten times.

Vettezuki
02-12-2010, 04:20 PM
Here's a nice little rhyme from some friends in NH.

YOU HAVE THE RIGHT

Inevitably, when a cop
Accosts you at a routine stop,
Some little tips that you can sing
Can keep the worst from happening.

A camera’s easy to afford;
You see blue lights, you hit RECORD.
Memorize, for later blame,
His badge’s number, and his name.

Make no statements; be evasive–
Court’s the place to be persuasive.
Phrase your answers like they’re questions;
Don’t react to rude suggestions.

Stay calm. Be polite.
Don’t argue, even though you’re right.
Anything you say or do
Can serve in court to railroad you.

Don’t touch a cop, he’ll cry “Assault!”
And courts will find that you’re at fault.
Likewise, never turn and run
That’s his excuse to use his gun.

Like the crook he thinks you are,
He’ll ask to search you, or your car.
Refuse. He’ll badger. Don’t relent.
By law, he still needs your consent.

Repeat two questions in a row–
Am I: Being detained? or Free to go?
Don’t resist him, just obey.
Demand a lawyer right away.

Despite your teaching, in the end,
Mister Cop is not your friend.
Think it’s unfair? Please arrange
To help Free Staters work for change.

BRIAN
02-12-2010, 06:27 PM
If they didn't have probable cause (kinda sticky area), they flat out violated your 4th Amendment rights.
I suck :(