Question on the legality of this bust?

[sMack-CFS!]

Last night 2 of my friends and I were sitting in the parking lot of an apartment building, which unknown to us at the time, is a "crack infested slum." We just finished smoking and were just sitting trying to figure out what to do next when a cop rolls by. My dude has his car on, and starts to leave, and my other dude is like no man dont its shady. So we end up just staying there, and then the same cop rolls by again, and were still just sitting there.

So we leave after that, and about 2 mins later we see the flashing lights. Cop says that we were driving without our lights on, and immediately asked the driver what he was on. He said he wasnt, and he took our ID's and stuff. But the thing is, each of us specifically remember having the lights on while we were driving. So the cop was definitely just bullshitting us to try and bust someone with abunch of coke or crack or whatever.

The pig asks if he can search the car, and the driver says no. He goes alright and radios to see if the canine is on duty, then calls him in. He searches all of us, and turns up nothing except some baggies in my one friends pocket. I made it really clear that I didnt consent to the search at all, but it didnt make a difference. When we were pulling over i aksed my dude in the front seat to hand me my bud which was in the glove box. Instead of handing it to me, he throws it on the floor of the backseat, so I had no choice but to kick it under the passenger seat since I could just bend down and pick it up.

Piggy arrives with the dog, and they run it past the car. The dog supposedly hit on something, and they went in the car with it. The stupid ass dog couldnt even find the baggie of stank BARELY under the back seat even after smelling right next to it multiple times. FInally the cops that were going thru everything found it, the dog didnt do SHIT except give them their BS reason they need to go into the car.

In all they found 1.5 grams of weed, my dudes digi that he hid in the car, the baggies he had on him, and a $300 stack he had on him as well. Were all getting charged with minor misdemeanor posession, but he might also get trafficking.

So is there any way we can fight this? It was totally illegal, the only reason we got pulled over was because the cop felt like it, he made up a story and just bullshitted us. I mean this is exactly what happened too.. can we somehow see the tapes from the cruiser that would show exactly why he pulled us over? to prove that our lights were on and he had no actual reason to pull us over in the first place?

 

[Harry Gypsna]

im pretty sure you will be entitled to the tapes from the car camera-although dont hold me to that coz im not american, but in general you r entitled to any evidence that supports your defence and they have to declare all their evidence to your lawyer to go through it(lots of cases been thrown out because of bits of evidence that the police hid or suppressed and such) Definately ask ur brief to look into that video evidence. that dog thing sounds dodgy too...a real drug dog would have been on that weed in no time and wouldnt have missed it-maybe it was a trick and it was just normal police dog(ie a run em down and bite em dog) and they thought a dog being there would get you to admit something or consent to a search. From what i know though ur search of pockets was illegal(from what ive seen here of similar stories) as you made it clear you did not consent.. isnt it the law that if you dont consent to a search they must either arrest you or let you go immediately?? I reallythink that tape is what u need coz if ur lights were on then maybe anything found could be the result of an illegal search. As i say im english and live in england so only know a tiny bit that ive read on US law in this forum...

 

[inflorescence]

sMack-CFS!, the burden of proof is on the cops to prove beyond a reasonable doubt your guilt. The cops have a badge and you guys were found with drugs. This will meet the burden of proof for most any brain dead american juror.
This is basically how the justice system functions everyday.
You didn't really think there was actually any justice in the justice sytem did you?

 

[GrowNub024]

Next time repeatedly ask if hes detaining you or if your free to leave. Then you wouldnt have had to wait around for a k9 to bust you.

 

[Guest]

Probable cause?

Probable cause?

He would have to have probable cause to search you. Maybe just being in the "crack infested slum" as you put it and looking suspicious at least to the cop might be probable cause.

My story on "probable cause":

I was pulled over at 2 in the morning about 8 years ago with a couple friends on the interstate (I-90 which is a major interstate) because a school had been broken into about 15-20 miles away. Complete bullshit story just to pull us over. We were all sober of anything. Anyway they have me go back to the cop car and sit in the passenger seat. He asks if he can search the car. I said "No" politely, just to fuck with them (I knew no one was holding and the cops were fucking with us in the first place). They ask if they should call my mom (car registered in her name) to ask if they can search it. I said "Go ahead, she'll say no also").

They look in my windows with a flashlight and see some air freshner on the floor I honestly forgot to pull out when I bought Groceries. They say this is "probable cause" to bring the drug dog in and take my friends out of the car and search them.

By that time there were 3 highway patrol lined up behind my car on the interstate. One of the funniest things I ever heard was when they brought the dog out, my friend said "Why did you have to go and bring your wife into this" to the cop. Anyway the dog comes in and doesn't find anything.

We looked like outstanding citizens and were all curtious to the cops until my friend said that, but it was a couple hours later, so he was getting annoyed.

Anyways, I would look into probable cause to see what is considered and definately see if you can get the tapes to see if your lights were on as then it would probably be an illegal search.

~impatient~

 

[Guest]

As you tell it, I'm not sure you have much of a foot to stand-on:

It's a little unclear what happened exactly with the police's search
of you and your friends... they can do a brief, minimally invasive
search of your person. The (alleged) fact that you were in an area
the police characterize as a "high crime" area alone could be used
to support a pat-down search.

It also sounds like y'all might've smelled a bit? Maybe that isn't
correct, but it sounded like it was possible.

When it comes down to it, it sounds as if it might come down to
your word vs. theirs... if you spoke to a lawyer and they suggested
challenging the evidence it'd be one (expensive) thing, otherwise
you might not get far following that route. The K9 part does sound
a little fishy, who knows?

Anyway, I hope it works out well for you.

 

[sMack-CFS!]

Im not sure its even worth challenging.. i mean, its a fuckin minor misdemeanor. But if they do try sticking us with trafficking, then I think well have a decent case.

I was doing some thinking yesterday and realized.. The cop claimed to have been driving in the opposite direction, saw our lights were off, flashed us to turn them on, and since we didnt he turned around and pulled us over. But if this is true, how could the very same officer have been sitting in the parking lot that we were in at the same time?

Warlocks maybe?

 

[Guest]

there must be a better place to smoke than parked in a public place..... you guys were asking to get popped.

aside from that rant you should be fine, don't know where ya live but round here that BS would be thrown out, misdemeanor plea agreement with some community service involved.

 

[Hunt4Hazez]

"there must be a better place to smoke than parked in a public place..... you guys were asking to get popped..."

I have to agree with that. But it sounds like that cop was tryin a little to hard to "look for something suspicious".

I cant say smoking in a car is a good thing, but if you wanna do it just roll it up and smoke it with the windows down, then put out the roach and throw it away.

 

[sMack-CFS!]

noo we werent actually smoking in the lot. just sitting there as opposed to driving around aimlessly. i mean im sure it couldve smelled a little, but it definitely didnt reek.

 

[inflorescence]

i mean im sure it couldve smelled a little, but it definitely didnt reek.

Listen to yourself. You have NO expectation of privacy out in public out of your home, the cops know this and use it to their advantage everyday.
If you keep insisting on doing illegal activities out in public don't act suprised when the cops bust you. That's what they do all day, look for illegal activity out in public because they can't really look for it in your home.

 

[krustytheclown]

Welcome to the 21st century:

Goose-stepping our way to a better, safer global society. Sieg heil!

 

[Guest]

i didnt bother to read beyond the first post so sorry if its been said but dont sweat it there is no way trafficking is gonna stick, without any priors. misdemeanor poss is not worth losing sleep over, at all.

if you really had your lights on and he claimed otherwise, you could subpoena the tape from the dash of his cruiser

 

[NiteTiger]

I'd say challenge it.

The key in my mind lies in two things:

1. If the traffic stop was unwarranted, then anything resulting from that stop is precluded from evidence. Was a traffic citation issued for the initial stop? If not, there's a real good chance of making this go away. However, it's unlikely that your lights not being on will be caught on camera. Most cameras do not activate until the lights of the patrol car are activated. It's perfectly reasonable (in the mind of a judge) that you saw him, and turned on your lights before he could get turned around to initiate the stop. One thing though - are we talking about a newer car? Most newer cars have daytime running lights, which would have been on even if the headlight switch was off.

2. The search of your persons. You clearly did not consent to a search. An officer may perform a pat search of your person for officer safety, but may NOT reach into your pockets or garments unless the pat search reveals a weapon, or an object that the officer can immediately identify as illegal based on touch alone. Baggies are not illegal, and how he could have identified baggies by touch alone is stretching the bounds of reason.

The K9 search will have been caught on tape, and indication the dog gives will clearly be shown on tape. Training records for the dog are also supoenaed so you can present evidence in court as to wether the dog actually indicated or not. I'm highly suspicious of the dog search, especially as the contraband was not found immediately upon the dog's indication. The dogs are trained (in most cases) to clearly indicate the source of the odor. The fact that it took a further thorough search by the officers to find the contraband indicates that the dog did not actually indicate. Most drug dogs I've seen would have had a baggie that was under a seat in thier mouths, or at the very least pawed it into view.

Chances are, you get an attorney, and this will go away. Cops will most likely fail to show for the traffic citation (if one was issued), which will kick the drug charges, they'll fail to show for the drug charges, which will cause a dismissal, or the charges will be dropped outright once a DA looks at them.

You had a cop looking for something to do. Unfortunately, you made yourself a very inviting target. Three guys sitting in a blacked-out car in a parking lot late at night will catch the attention of a cop, period.

They're hoping you'll cop a plea or just plead out since its a misdemeanor. First sign of a fight, this will disappear.

Sure, it's just a misdemeanor. Keep in mind though, that misdemeanors do add up, and there may be a time in the future where you'll really wish you didn't have a drug conviction on your record.

 

[Guest]

I feel a little less confident about the search, if I remember correctly and the bag of herb was under the seat in front of ya... that would seem to be an allowed search... and that you'd been sitting in a parking lot in a "high crime" area might be enough for the rolling equivalent of a "knock and talk."

On the otherhand, it didn't sound to me like the cops thought the trafficking charge would stick, I get the sense they may have been going on the hope that you'd feel compelled to please no contest or guilty figuring they'd "given you a break."

 

[krustytheclown]

Sure, it's just a misdemeanor. Keep in mind though, that misdemeanors do add up, and there may be a time in the future where you'll really wish you didn't have a drug conviction on your record.

One last word about misdemeanor drug charges: they go on your federal record forever.

This means:
-It'll show on the NCIS database- used by the feds
-You will have to wait the full 5 day waiting period to purchase a firearm, if not turned down completely by the state.
-It'll show up on any job where you have to give your fingerprints (teacher, child care worker, police officer, some government employees, securities trader, etc.). Don't worry too much, though, except for pig...err, police officer... or perhaps some high-level stock trading/auditing positions, you won't get fired for this showing up in your background.
-It may cause you additional scrutiny when doing international travel, particularly among countries with high drug activity or corruption (Columbia, Holland, Afganistan, etc.).

Stay safe!

 

[nukn futz]

and dont hang out in your car anymore for petes sake, back in my day we got stoned on a couch like normal people!

 

[weed_snob]

well if you get a good lawyer they can tear this to shreds, otherwise baggies + scale + money+ drugs= fucked

 

[weed_snob]

sorry that seams calous,

Ive had some bad, real bad experiance with the cops and i know what dicks they can be. they think they are gods, over abuse their power and disrespect the people they are ment to protect.

My guess is your buddy can probably plea it down to misdimenor posession and do a little rehab program if he cant get it thrown out. rehab programs arent so bad you'd be amazed the stories smack and meth users have; messed up, and damn i'll never try that shit.