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/143...ml#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.)