Was I illegaly searched?

[THCeeker]

Last night I was coming home from my friends house in the city of Buffalo (I live in the suburbs). I had realized I left my laptop in his apartment and I called him and went back to get it, and on the way to his house a police officer pulled me over, although I had done nothing wrong. He asked me for my registration and license and I looked around my car then got them for him, at which point he asked me to step out of the car. He said he thought myself as well as my car smelled like marijuana, which in fact neither me nor the car did and I know for a fact the car was clean because I haven't smoked in it in forever. Anyways, he searched my pockets, then began to search my car, at which point I said "Officer you do NOT have my consent to search my vehicle." He did not hear me so I turned to a nearby officer and asked him if he heard me. He said he did and told the searching officer that I had "withdrawn my consent to any search" at which point the officer stopped searching my car, came to me, immediately cuffed me and told me "You have no rights", and put me in the car. He proceeded to search my car with other officers for 40 minutes, with his search yielding a clean scale which was returned to me, two shots of whiskey in a water bottle, a dirty pipe, and an empty pill container I used to use to hold weed, as well as a forward assist knife which he claimed was a switch blade. I was charged with possession of marijuana and cited a ticket for 12% rear window tints, and the officer said that he let me off easy. However, I think the knife was a legal knife as I went to Lowes and saw the exact same type of knife being sold there today. I also was wondering what will happen when I show up for my court date, because this evidence is being submitted but it was not found with any warrant or drug dog, and the officer knew damn well he had no permission to be in my vehicle. If anyone can tell me anything, any help is useful, thank you.

On another note, after the tow truck towed my car the officer lost something so I sat in his car while he went all over town looking for something that he never found. During this ride, I made special note of the officer speeding, at one point going 80 in a 45 while it was raining, running every stop sign and red light he came across, and even racing another officer. Can I do anything with this information if I get a lawyer or is it not worth the cop heat I'd take from any lawsuit.

[grow1964]

If he said he smelled someone on you or your car then he already had probable cause. This is how they tend to get around these stupid laws nowadays. The cops also have a right to lie to you to get you to admit anything. Really not much you cn do. If its that big a deal than hire a lawyer. If its just a fine pay it and be done with it. Since your in NY i assume you just got a fine

[painretreat]

I don't know the law, but sounds like you did all you could to try to protect your rights.

Charged, possession of what? A dirty pipe, empty med bottle--tee hee, that's where I put my stuff I take with me!!!

I think, once they have cuffs on you and towing your car, it is theirs and so are you! A cop told me that once. A friend wrecked my car. I went to the scene. Wanted to get my stuff out of it for a trip in 5 hours. Told me, "That vehicle belongs to the State of Calif. right now!" I was pissed and started taking my friend to a hospital, she was in shock, shaking and cold and needed medical help. Going to the hosp. would piss him off and he did! They have to go to hosp. to fill out paperwork then.

The man that rear ended my vehicle was dead, no seatbelt and air bag pushed hiim out his open driver's door window and his own car rolled over him. Cops said his pocket was full of pot! I wondered how it survived the burn--that dude was baked and they did not even cover him, until my request!

At 2AM. I went to a nearby friends and waited to get my vehicle! The main road for commuters wasn't open until 8AM and a nurse that cared for my friend had to go around the mess.

I am taking you at your word, but I wonder if there isn't more to this! I've always thot, I did nothing wrong be open about it. If you aren't they'll have more reason to 'get you!' Now, I have lawyer friends and they all tell me: INVOKE YOUR RIGHTS ASAP! Just as you did!:stoned:

Good luck, please keep us informed. I would like to hear the end of this for my own education, if u don't mind. Tsk! no personal message (oh, that is what PM stands for, I bet), would drop you one! pr :(

TERROISM HAS RUINED THIS COUNTRY'S FREEDOM'S! :rastasmoke:

oh, see another post popped in. Well, bet he is right.

In the past, I went to the City Manager to report behavior of police! I got my problem fixed, by doing so. When I knew the police chief, I chatted with him. And you may want to report how your life was endangered by his behavior and driving. Whether you are his property or not. If he was driving very reckless without emergency lights on, you were in danger! Do it politely, not like you are mad. Ask them if this is acceptable behavior and you just wanted to point it out. So, this does not happen to another in the future! That cop will testify against you. So, think it thru!

I think if you have cuffs on, you don't have any rights anymore!

I know they get away with a lot of stuff. :wtf:The privileges of working a dangerous job you can literally die doing! We like to be fair and don't like it when we see it upside down. pr

[painretreat]

Doesn't he need 'probable cause' to pull you over, in the first place?

did u have your seatbelt on, or a broken light.

I did that in Colorado Springs a couple years ago and got stopped! When he walked up I started laughing and said, "So, you can tell I am lost?" Yes or on the spirits! My mom was in the car! Probably only reason he did not do something to an out of stater! I was just looking to mail a damn bill!

DID HE SAY WHY HE PULLED YOU OVER? I think that is important! pr:hippy:

[THCeeker]

He told me he pulled me over for tinted windows, however he didn't tell me what I was under arrest for and I did not find out until many hours sitting in a cold holding cell holding my piss after an officer committed reckless endangerment with me in his car, no lights. I got charged with Possession of Marijuana, however they gave my scale back, so at the least I'll get the charges changed from marijuana to dirty piece, because if I actually did have weed in the car with me, I would have gotten hit with intent to deal, but instead they returned the scale to my parents at the police station. Lol.

The thing that bothers me about this all is that I KNOW for a FACT neither me or the car smelled anything remotely similar to marijuana, and he straight up lied to get into my car. He went from searching ME behind the car immediately into the car without saying a word to me, and I immediately told him he lacked my consent.

[painretreat]

Is 12% legal in your state?

Are you saying you had weed in the scale?

Just sounds like you got a bad rap! If your windows are legal, it seems to me, according to a cop I've had conversations with, the whole case can be tossed! But, again, I am no expert and I hope one jumps in here, want to hear the answer! :thumbsup:

[THCeeker]

Okay my windows let in 12% of the light that passed through, the legal limit in my state is 70. He's got me there. The scale was completely clean, I'm saying if they had found WEED and not a dirty PIPE, then the scale would have been evidence and I would have faced intent to deal charges. But since they returned the scale to my possession, I clearly had no actual MARIJUANA on me, just the dirty pipe, so at the very least I want the charges changed to the correct ones. Yea I did, he told my parents the reason he pulled me over was because I was driving a tinted black jaguar into the city at 1 in the morning. Lol, if that's not unreasonable profiling, I don't know what is.

[painretreat]

With a decent lawyer, I don't think they will waste their time fighting you over tinted windows. I would not be worried! I would be :( cause all this crap takes up a lot of time and money!

I tint mine a lot more than legal. So, now I know what can happen up front! :hippy:

[SnSstealth]

I doubt youll have much of a stance in court that nothing smelled like MJ being that you had a "dirty bowl" in the car. not that I dont believe you but the courts usually dont believe anyone in these instances. I agree with the paying the fine idea, but definitely talk to the police chief about the terrifying experience of fearing death because your handcuffed sitting behind a wall of plexiglass going 80 mph and no way to protect yourself if/when something happened.

I had a car stolen from me while i was at a party in high school. the cops showed up and started ?ing me about my habits, they said they found the car and it was 10 miles away so the cop asks me to get in the back so we can go there, "sure" i said. WOW, this guy belonged in NASCAR. same as you, were doing 85-90 on us-1. we get there and they tell me that I have to make the decision to take the car home or let them have it for examination. well, since it was my dads car he needed for work the next day, I said " ive got to take it home" the officer shakes his head at the ground, looks at me and says(ill never forget this)"Dont call us the next time you have a bad drug deal" and walked away! I was livid, he just assumed that a longhair highschooler had a drug deal with 3 black guys that stole a big white chevy caprice, also lived on the other side of town. they apparently thought i was hiding something in the car, but the little contraband I had, I left for the party. I didnt know the suspects but they did end up convicting them, my dad kept the car and i eventually drove it for years afterward. my feeling towards law enforcement however were cemented in that moment.

sorry, resin must be workin real well:jointsmile:

moral is: cops ALWAYS expect the worst. its a result of training and the crap they get at their job. I dont agree it should be that way, it just is:mad:

db:smokin:

[painretreat]

Even a used bowl will smell, good point db! When cops use to smoke cigs. they couldn't smell so well!

I'd bitch like hell at the Police Chief, City Manager or Whoever hires the police chief!

One thing I know for sure! It is fun riding in a car with a cop: when you have your seatbelt on and it is a legit race course! I went racing with the Cali Hwy patrol once and my stomach was left at the start line!!! And he was drunk! We all were! But, I felt safe. They really are pretty good driver's. If you had not been in cuff's, it would have been fun!

You were not safe. Were you in a seatbelt in the back? Just curious, haven't been there yet!

DB: I can just visualize that one!! Know how you feel, gettn your car taken! At least they found yours, I had to find my own! And, of course, I complained at the Sheriff's station! :hippy:

[birdgirl73]

He does not need probable cause to pull you over. He's supposed to have a traffic stop reason, like your failure to use your turn indicator, failure to come to a complete stop, etc. When they don't have a reason to stop you, however, they rarely hesitate to let that prevent them from stopping you, so they can pretty much stop you on a whim. He is supposed to have probable cause to search you, however.

Sounds like your rights were violated in a couple of ways, including an illegal search. There's a debate going on right now about whether odor is justifiable probable cause for a search. Many believe it is not, but police have been using it as justification for a long time and it has stood up in court far more times than not. More often what they're really using to justify the stop, then the search, is a profiling technique, only it's not racial profiling, It's "stoner profiling." You're a young man of a certain age and certain look in a certain type of car, the type they tend to find paraphernalia in and on. Once they have what they deem probable cause, they do not need a warrant or dog-originated evidence for it to be admissible. Dogs' jobs are actually to come in and establish probable cause by smelling illicit drugs when the cops cannot.

Anyway, this means what he found will be admissible even if he violated your rights to find it by searching you without your consent. It'll be his word against yours, sadly, and they'll be more likely to listen to him because he's got the badge and you're the one who had "contraband." No, by the way, you cannot do anything with your evidence of his speeding while he was conducting his police business other than expect to be laughed at if you bring that up. They speed all the time as a matter of routine business, whether it's to catch non-cop speeders, get to the McDonald's drive-through ahead of a crowd, get to a bad car accident to direct traffic around it, or get back to the station to, well, take a 10-200 (that's fire-police 10-code for a bathroom visit requiring sit-down time). That's why they have those big ole motors in their cruisers and that light bar on top--so they can speed!

It is not fair. It's completely unfair that you were treated in this way. It happened, however, and that's that. People get treated unfairly every day by law enforcement officers, unfortunately, so you're learning that first-hand.

The truth is you can get yourself a lawyer and try and fight the search and the charges and end up paying far, far more money than you would just paying the fines. If you're wealthy, go for it! Or you can pay up the fine, get past this, and chalk it up to lesson learned and keep your car showroom clean the next time you go out driving somewhere. This is one of the most frustrating lessons anyone can learn about the justice system in our country, but having a case and being able to succeed with that case are two very different and distinct things. In situations like this, you're always at a distinct disadvantage. And it stinks.

Contact a legal aid attorney in your area if you like. Or you can pay a retainer of about $400 and hire an attorney who deals with cannabis and/or paraphernalia tickets in your area. You may request a copy of the videotape of the traffic stop and the search from the police department. They will usually invite you and, if you hire one, your attorney, to come in and review it with a charge officer or member of the command staff rather than hand you a copy of it. If his sergeant or chief see that he violated your rights, then he will be in trouble. Somehow I'm betting he is sly enough that that's not going to be visible or audible on the video.

Best of luck to you. My condolences on this whole situation. Check the sticky at the top of this Legal sub-forum, which I'll plug in here: http://boards.cannabis.com/legal/143659-busted-citizens-guide-surviving-police-encounters.html#post1750764. It's very important that you read and watch this information and know it by heart. Even when you do, sometimes you still can't avoid being treated unfairly as happened in this case. Share this citizens' guide info with your friends! (In honor of our member Mississippi Steve, who is always spot-on correct when he tells people this, don't go out driving with anything in your car at all, not weed, not paraphernalia, not a single seed. This sort of situation is 100% preventable, like accidental pregnancy. You can use "I didn't know it was in there" as an excuse, but look what sort of situation that lack of knowledge can land you in. Better to scour your car out beforehand so you know you're not at risk.)

[IrieIrie]

i wish threads like these were filtered for me so i wouldn't read them then become angry thinking about the men and women who's job it is to serve and protect us violating our rights.

[flyingimam]

Irie Irie

the first few words of your post made me think i will find paranoia or paranoid somwhere along your sentence! lol

but yeah, i feel this guy, and again, we the sheep cant do much against the dogs, hope u can get thru this safe n sound and end up keeping it off your record, and if u can, get the popos pay u back in any possible way, money or them being fired!

[heyguys]

Did he cite your Miranda rights?
I was told to take a drug test. Mandatory.
Found out through state I failed and was fired.
Employer had RX for medical condition.
Gave it to them months earlier when I took pre-employment test.
MRO noted to consult prescribing physician, but passed.
Told them about condition, and gave them RX and Dr.'s note, but they said they had know way of knowing I was still taking RX. Ever heard of asking?
Their Employee Manual guarantees anyone testing positive 3 days to contact MRO for test of split specimen.
Not me. MRO never called, either.
Found about 100 violations on this single test.
The gov. agencies which enforce regs were busy partying with the testing industry multimillionaires, so they were useless.
No established private right of action nationwide. Regs. are discriminatory. Employers may fire and deny benefits based on failed test. If donor asks for copies of testing information or cooperation by wayward doctor, too bad.
What this means is, they can rig your test, defame you to government authorities, who have control over your licensing, deny UC and you have no way to get relief.
It gets better.

[daihashi]

Last night I was coming home from my friends house in the city of Buffalo (I live in the suburbs). I had realized I left my laptop in his apartment and I called him and went back to get it, and on the way to his house a police officer pulled me over, although I had done nothing wrong. He asked me for my registration and license and I looked around my car then got them for him, at which point he asked me to step out of the car. He said he thought myself as well as my car smelled like marijuana, which in fact neither me nor the car did and I know for a fact the car was clean because I haven't smoked in it in forever.

Did you smoke at your friends house? It sticks to your clothes and you're oblivious to the fact that you smell. If I ever smoke a joint, blunt or pipe I always make sure to change shirts. The only time I don't change clothes is when I'm vaporizing. I'm willing to bet there was strong likely hood that you smelled without realizing it.


Anyways, he searched my pockets, then began to search my car, at which point I said "Officer you do NOT have my consent to search my vehicle." He did not hear me so I turned to a nearby officer and asked him if he heard me. He said he did and told the searching officer that I had "withdrawn my consent to any search" at which point the officer stopped searching my car, came to me, immediately cuffed me and told me "You have no rights", and put me in the car.

He's sort've right. The moment the police smelled marijuana they had probable cause to search your car. They don't need your permission, a warrant and your denial of consent to search your vehicle doesn't matter. They smelled something and had probable cause. Next time you get pulled over just barely crack your window. You don't have to legally roll it all the way down.


He proceeded to search my car with other officers for 40 minutes, with his search yielding a clean scale which was returned to me, two shots of whiskey in a water bottle, a dirty pipe, and an empty pill container I used to use to hold weed, as well as a forward assist knife which he claimed was a switch blade. I was charged with possession of marijuana and cited a ticket for 12% rear window tints, and the officer said that he let me off easy.

Let you off easy? No the guy was a douche. Letting you off easy would be pretending he didn't find anything or not pulling you over in the first place. I hate when officers make it sound as if they somehow did you a favor.


However, I think the knife was a legal knife as I went to Lowes and saw the exact same type of knife being sold there today. I also was wondering what will happen when I show up for my court date, because this evidence is being submitted but it was not found with any warrant or drug dog, and the officer knew damn well he had no permission to be in my vehicle. If anyone can tell me anything, any help is useful, thank you.

I will tell you this, get a very strong lawyer. If it is truely as you describe then my personal *opinion* is that you would get off easily with a lawyer. However I am not in the legal field therefore anything I say should not be taken as legal advice but rather just another persons opinion.

I've had both of my posession charges dropped by hiring a very good lawyer.



On another note, after the tow truck towed my car the officer lost something so I sat in his car while he went all over town looking for something that he never found. During this ride, I made special note of the officer speeding, at one point going 80 in a 45 while it was raining, running every stop sign and red light he came across, and even racing another officer. Can I do anything with this information if I get a lawyer or is it not worth the cop heat I'd take from any lawsuit.

I would mention it to your lawyer, but I believe that since you were in custody you do not actually count as a witness for these acts. Your lawyer will decide if that information is relevant or not; but if I had to guess I would say that this would not help you at all. You are going to court for things YOU are being accused of. You need to focus your case on proving your innocence against the crime charged against you.

In a best case situation, if your lawyer would choose to use that information, all it would do would put the officers integrity into question, but again that will be for your lawyer to decide.

[MadSativa]

You have no rights.

Miranda, I have never meet her.

[anbesol]

$100 dollar fine. for first time offense. maybe community service. sit back and smoke a j

[sacredplant]

I have been set up before by a so called friend which is now getting what he deserves in prison. Narc.
When this happened I realized just how fucked up cops are.

Truth is (unfortunately) it doesn't matter if they illegally searched you or not, it your word against theirs.
If you want to bring this into the case it will have to go to trial which costs a shit load in lawyer fees. Most people will take anything they can get to not have to go to trial.
If you were looking at a lot of jail time then i would suggest going to trial otherwise its not worth it.

Cops lie.
They lied on my report and used the excuse that I pulled into a parking lot shut of my lights and started to plan robbing this building...and thats why they pulled my over n searched. Which is of course a lie, I got pulled over while I was driving normally b/c they new what car to look for and were sitting around waiting for me.

They didn't say anything except get out of the car, I was immediately hand cuffed, no one would talk to me or tell me what was going on and I was never read my rights, this of course is not what the police report says.

This is how it goes. Unless your in deeep shit you pretty much have to roll with their story and try and prove to the judge that your a good citizen who just messed up.
No Love for the Po Po!

[jsn9333]

If the cop profiled you, then everything that occurred after the traffic stop was illegal and should be thrown out of court. And pulling a car over because it is expensive and late is NOT evidence toward probable cause in any state I know of.

If I were you, I would fight the reason he pulled you over in the first place. That is hard to do though, as he can say he saw you cross over the center line and then it is his word against yours. However, if he really told your parents he pulled you b/c of the type of care you were driving (and the time of night), then you actually have a good chance of getting everything dropped if they will testify that they heard the cop say that. Because then it is your word AND your parents word against the cops.

Judges know that cops break the law by profiling. It is rare that they will believe a defendant over a cop though. So profiling often goes unchecked. But when you can give them good evidence profiling occurred, they will usually rule for you. Cops don't mind breaking the law and letting their fellow officers know they profile and shit. Judges, on the other hand, would be disgraced if they allowed profiling to occur when the Supreme Court has said it is illegal.

THCeeker, I have a question. Had you smoked marijuana at any point that day? Because if so, then he certainly might have smelled it on you. And in that case, he didn't even need to lie to have legal cause to search your vehicle.

The laws suck, I know. That is why I always tried to wash my hands, chance my shirt, and chew gum before driving after I've smoked anything at all. Every little bit helps.

And I also drive with my windows cracked and the air on the "intake from the outside" setting whenever I have any pipe or paraphernalia in my car. Pipes smell more then we smokers realize. And if a car sits closed for a long time, especially if it gets hot, then even an old pipe in 3 bags and a zippered container in my trunk has caused my car to smell slightly.

All that being said... check into what the cop is saying the reason he pulled you over is. If your parents will testify that he told them the different reason, then I would give you a good chance of getting the charges dropped by the judge.