Need Help; Paraphernalia

[Wicked Rebel]

So heres the story. Me and two of my friends (all over 18) pulled into the gas station. When we rounded the corner, we found that the road was blocked by TXU trucks and we could not get around unless you went over a curb and over grass. I drove forward and my front tire hit the curb and the workers started to freak out. I decided then not to go over the curb so I backed up and was facing the exit when one of the workers was being a complete dick so I flicked him off. He then ran in front of my car and would not let me go around and proceeded to call the cops on us. After 5 minutes (the guy was still in front of my car) the cop showed up. I talked to him briefly and went back to my car and not a minute later a canine unit showed up. Me and one of my friends talked to the canine officer who said that our eyes were red. He then gave us sobriety tests that we both passed and then made the other kid get out the car and made us sit on the curbs. He then went and got his drug dog and walked around my car. He never gave us a probable cause to use his drug dog. He found a pipe and I got charged with a paraphernalia.

We think the workers held us illegally. So, basically 3 things have to happen for false imprisonment. To prevail under a false imprisonment claim, a plaintiff must prove: (1) willful detention; (2) without consent; and (3) without authority of law. Now the latter 2 things are quite obvious from my story. The first 1 is true because I never ran over the guy to get out, therefor I stayed there willfully. Then the case with the police is that they searched my car without probable cause, because the case with the workers did not involve drugs or anything else illegal. Am I just grasping at straws or do I have a strong case for both of these things? By the way I live in Texas and I was arrested over a year ago for a DUI and a paraphernalia charge.

Wicked Rebel Reviewed by Wicked Rebel on 07-26-2007. Need Help; Paraphernalia So heres the story. Me and two of my friends (all over 18) pulled into the gas station. When we rounded the corner, we found that the road was blocked by TXU trucks and we could not get around unless you went over a curb and over grass. I drove forward and my front tire hit the curb and the workers started to freak out. I decided then not to go over the curb so I backed up and was facing the exit when one of the workers was being a complete dick so I flicked him off. He then ran in front Rating: 5

[Mike23artist]

get a lawyer asap pd wi9ll work

[twitch]

whats up man how is life? u know how this is?

[420_s.w.e.d.]

thats fucked up! When i was in high school me and a friend ditched a class and went into this field and we smoked a bowl. on our way out we seen a cop and the vice principal walking towards the field. we ditched the pipe and sack of bud and turned the corner and went towards them. they said we smelt like cigerettes and they searched us. they did not find anything but i still dont think that they had a probable cause to search us just because of a smell and we dident even smoke cigs! pretty dumb shit!

[birdgirl73]

If you want to waste your money on an attorney, go for it. But he's going to laugh. Hard.

First, you weren't falsely imprisoned. You weren't imprisoned at all. It would be a stretch to even say you were the subject of a citizens' arrest, but that's probably the most accurate description of what happened to you. You were basically detained by a public utilities employee who stood in front of your truck and delayed your departure after you drove and behaved erratically. Any judge in any courtroom in our land would uphold that TXU employee's decision to "detain" you after you drove up on the curb alarmingly and flipped him off after he reacted. You were acting like you were either under the influence of something or desperately attempting to flee the scene of an earlier crime. Most folks with sense would have found that suspicious. You could have left, but you didn't. Had you departed, you can bet that TXU employee had your license plates anyway. The cops would have caught up with you. No matter how anyone looks at it, though, your civil rights weren't compromised nor your freedoms abridged. There's a big legal difference between detention and arrest/imprisonment.

So now let's look at probable cause, since you're not going to have a justifiable complaint of false imprisonment. The "willful detention," by the way, doesn't apply to you or the fact that you willfully stayed in place. It refers to the intent of the detainer. That is, to his willful, deliberate action in detaining you, which does seem to have occurred but which is moot.

When the cops arrived, you had the signs of red eyes, at least according to them, and you also had the two previous charges that were visible to them on your criminal record. They had the report from Mr. TXU of of a person driving and behaving erratically, possibly endangering public safety. But the cops didn't search you. They simply called in the dogs. If canine "officers" smell something suspicious, that then becomes probable cause for a justified search. A go-over by the dogs isn't a search. The intent of a drug-dog review is to establish probable cause, which, frankly, they likely had plenty of even before the canine unit was ever called (erratic driving/behavior, red eyes, previous record, etc.).

You've left out a lot of the story. Like whether or not you were under the influence, or in possession, of anything during your little adventure. Whether the canine review prompted a justified officer search of your vehicle, and whether you were subsequently cited, arrested for or charged with any misdemeanor. I gather you were not.

Let this be a lesson to you. First, don't drive crazily or flip people off. It makes them immediately suspicious. When you have DUI and paraphernalia charges on your record, you don't want to arouse further suspicion. Second, know the difference between detention (willfull or otherwise) and imprisonment. And finally, make sure you tell your friends on cannabis Web forums the full and complete story so they know how your grasping-at-straws adventures end!!

[twitch]

why didn't u just drive at him no txu guy gets paid that much dude same thing happened to me when i was in Arkansas i was leaving the parking deck and the bald guy that looks after it stopped me and i just kept driving... he got the good idea of stepping out of my way