Quote Originally Posted by willystylle
Its tricky for both sides.

A cop sees you. He starts running over. So you ditch your shit in the trash can. He can't arrest you on charges of possession, because technically there is no possession. But he can arrest you on suspicion, and if he saw you ditch your gear then he'll take it in as evidence. But then they must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the gear was yours. If they find prints, your'e screwed. If they don't, they shouldn't be able to hold you.

Can't charge you for possession.
Can't charge you for tampering with evidence (unless he can prove the gear is yours)
Can arrest on suspicion.
Can take prints.

I think in this case the cops would win.

But lets say a cop sees you. He starts running over. So you ditch your shit in the trash can but he didn't see you do it. He can't arrest you on charges of possession, because technically there is no possession. He can't arrest you on suspicion because he can't find the gear.

Can't charge you for possession.
Can't charge you for tampering with evidence - There is no evidence
Can arrest on suspicion.

Here you would win hands down.
This basically sums it up. If you are seen in posession and caught ditching while in said posession...you might as well have just kept it because you're going down anyway. Now, you can fight it in court and say the cop was imagining things...but you're still in court. Remember...you might beat the rap, you won't be the ride...

On the other hand, if there just happens to be something laying by where you're standing, the cop can take that into evidence and attempt to charge you with it. However, they'll need to establish the chain of custody...in other words, are your fingerprints on the thing?