Illegal search and seizure?

[jiggerman78]

Last night my friend was driving home from my house after picking up a half o of some fire and was incidently pulled over by a cop who probable cause was that his car looked like another one found in robberies in the area. MY friend never consented to a search but they still brought as canine unit in which in turn found the half o. Right now he is charged with possesion of 19 grams (how lucky instead of 20g which is a felony).My question is how can he go about this. He is already going to fight the case because the cop not once had atleast SUFFICENT probable cause. ANy help would be wonderful.

 

[HappyHemphog]

Hate to say it but your buddy is fucked without a really good lawyer.

Cop will say he smelled it, called in dog. Perfectly legit in the eyes of the Judge. That doesn't make it true, but we all know the US Court system isn't about Truth.

 

[Watersnake]

Good Luck;
The cop will probably need to produce evidence that a similar car was indeed involved in recent mischief, plus, he should have specified what he was looking for. I don't know if is a legal search without those. You were apparently legally detained if he had probable cause to look for specific items. I don't know if "fruits of the poison tree" doctrine would hold up. Get a good lawyer, and I would not cop a plea if there were evidence of 4th amendment violation. Remember, the cop will promise the world, but only the judge has authority, (including excluding or admitting evidence).-Snake

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

....That doesn't make it true, but we all know the US Court system isn't about Truth.....

he who has the most money wins the case.
good luck. i spent 4k to 'get out' of my last case(read :beat)

 

[Watersnake]

My U.S. Code is not quite up to date, but the cops are still from what I have seen narrowly limited, even in a traffic stop. "Terry v. Ohio" allows pat-down frisks for weapons on suspicion that there is a weapon, which may be reasonable if the officer truly thought your friend was the robber, but was it on a pat-down search of his person?

Auto searches tend to be different, more iffy than home or personal searches.

Generally officers are limited to items in plain view in a car. Even the Renquist Court found in favor of a man who had a sawed off shotgun under his seat and excluded the evidence.
-Snake

 

[bergerbuddy]

Hate to say it but your buddy is fucked without a really good lawyer.

Cop will say he smelled it, called in dog. Perfectly legit in the eyes of the Judge. That doesn't make it true, but we all know the US Court system isn't about Truth.

Sad but TRUE.... and I was raised to BELIEVE just the opposite, yet I grew up to SEE the truth.

Your friend is in a lot of trouble... some states protect privacy better than others.. i.e. some states are more restrictive than the federal law when it comes to police actions. States can protect our rights MORE but never less than what Federal law protects

Peace
BB

 

[DickAnubis]

Hmmmm? Quite a mess. Your friend is in big trouble. If he gets a good lawyer and I mean $$$$$$$$ good, he might not get railroaded.
It depends what state he was in since each state has its own criteria of penalty to amount seized and such.
The cop has the advantage but the right lawyer, Judge, timing combination could work in your friend's favor. Let's hope they don't rail him to give up his connect. But it's not an amount that would warrant such.

Oh whatever he does HE SHOULD NOT TRY TO FIGHT IT ON HIS OWN. Get him a lawyer otherwise he's a fish in the barrel.

PEACE

 

[Watersnake]

Everybody has at least one appeal from the trial court. Once it goes to appeal is when the evidential and procedural questions come into play. The court trial per se is not the fact, it is scrutinized. Possible nolo contendre with appeal could save some money.-Snake

 

[northernlightss]

I had the same thing happen to me down here in Fl, unfortunately they don't need a warrant to call in a k-9 unit, and once that dog alerts it becomes legal. His best bet is to get a lawyer. Cops will try all kinds of bullshit to get you to consent to a search, all the while preventing you from leaving the scene, so the dog has time to get there. He probably didn't have enough probable cause to force your friend to stay, but your friend probably didn't try to leave before the dog got there, and the cop certainly won't tell you that you are not under arrest and can leave. Once that dog gets there you're screwed. Down here in Fl, they can't hold you more than 15 min (or a reasonable time to issue a citation) if they don't have probable cause.

 

[Watersnake]

Beer nuts cost $1.25, but Deer Nuts are under a buck

Beer nuts cost $1.25, but Deer Nuts are under a buck

Too late now, but "Deer Musk" which hunters use on their clothing smells like deer urine, and apparently throws dogs off the trail if you spray the wheels and underside of the car (claim you must've hit a skunk or something), according to some sources. But if your friend repeatedly asks Mr. Law if he is under arrest or detention, and may he peaceably leave, there is a case United states V. $124,570 U.S. Currency, which does allude to a limit on reasonable time frame of seizure, including seizure of a person (i.e. arrest or detention) which hopefully the cops may have to answer to. Especially good since it was a higher court case, which takes prescidence over the trial courts. In any event, there are established prescidents which a good attorney may be able to research. Just a thought.....Snake

 

[guest]

When they called in the K-9 unit, the reason for the detention had changed.

Before, the detention was (supposedly) that he was a possible robbery suspect.
Then the K-9 unit was called in to find drugs.

The police are not allowed to hold someone without probable cause for a K-9 unit to show up.

A good lawyer is required, but he should be able to get off.

 

[guest]

Look into the mirror and say this over and over until it comes natural:

"Am I under arrest? May I leave now?"

There are times that the cop is required to tell you that you may leave. In spite of the K-9 being on route.

 

[glock23]

jig: Do you live in NY? I've heard the "matching the description of a robbery suspect" thing a number of times in NYC.

 

[Watersnake]

I was once illegally detained over 45 minutes in Arkansas for "possession of a ponytail".

Southern hospitality....Snake

 

[bluebublelove]

with a good lawyer, depending on what state you live in....your friend could potentially have the case thrown out....how long did he detain him before the dog came? did he say, anything like..."im gonna run my dog around your car and make sure everythings ok, if shes makes a hit, I'm just gonna check it out, alright?" and your friend may have said, "ok" because he felt dead to rights at the point.....but he still could have refused up till the point....not saying he wouldn't have still been popped with the herb but to have him on camera (supposing the cop recorded it on dashcam...standard procedure) up until the point of the discovery will be a good defense in court...also...as stated before, how long he was detained for may play as a factor as well.

 

[NiteTiger]

Nope, your buddy is screwed. Get a good lawyer.

Cops do not need probable cause to call out the dog.

The only chance of getting out of it is if he did indeed lie about the robbery desciption, then the stop itself would be invalid and the subsequent search would be 'fruit of the poisonous tree'.

Regarding the deer urine - much like the myths about coffee, pepper, etc., it doesn't work. Dogs sense of smell work differently than ours. When you smell beef stew, you smell the comingled odors. A dog smells the carrots, beef, and potatoes individually.

So, in this case, the dog would smell deer urine and pot.

 

[NiteTiger]

"im gonna run my dog around your car and make sure everythings ok, if shes makes a hit, I'm just gonna check it out, alright?" and your friend may have said, "ok" because he felt dead to rights at the point

Cops doesn't need consent if the dog alerts, so it's a non-issue. The dog does not qualify as a search, per Supreme Court ruling, because the dog is outside the car, and you have no right to privacy over air.

 

[bluebublelove]

I know the law says you need no special circumstances to run a dog outside of a car....i'm just telling him if his buddy refused the search up to the point when the cop went into the car to retrieve the drugs the dog hit on.....it would be proof that he never once, not even when the cop claimed the dog smelled somthing, gave consent to a search...i'm sure that would be arsenal in his defense. but you are correct, a cop does not need any reason to run a dog around a car....

 

[NiteTiger]

Well, he could certainly argue it, sure.

I just don't think it will be an effective argument. I'm not sure the attorney would want to make a big deal out of it, since the prosecutor would just turn it around as evidence of a guilty conscience.