got pulled over(need help)

[Dave M]

The first words out of your mouth should have been:

"What exactly are you looking for and where is your search warrant? You may not search my car."

If you do not consent and the officer states he is going to search your car anyway, do NOT oppose the officer. Tell him you do NOT consent, ask him if he has probable cause to search, and keep it at that. You can exercise your legal options later. If you oppose the officer and get arrested, then now the officer can search your car legally (called a search incident to arrest.)

PLEASE EVERYONE, do not give away your rights too easily.. They are being taken systematically already! Know your rights and please assert them.

That's true, but in a lot of cases this only causes the officer to think you have something to hide and he'll make you wait around for a drug dog to arrive. They can have a dog sniff the vehicle any time they want, and if the dog hits on the car they can legally search. I've been pulled over many times and have never gotten a ticket and never had a request to search my vehicle. A lot of how the traffic stop goes is in how you treat the officer. It's very easy to talk your way into a ticket. Even your non-verbal cues and attitude can affect the officer's impression of you. Arguing with the officer is not going to change his mind (unless you can point out some portion of a written law he is ignoring or forgetting, but even then...) and will only garauntee you a ticket. Your time to argue your point is in court after you've gotten the tickket. But if you act civily and the crime wasn' horrible, you probably won't even get a ticket in the first place.

If you truly do not have anything to hide, yu're not giving up any rights by consenting to a search. It's your right to consent. It's also your right to refuse.

[DJ Taso]

The first words out of your mouth should have been:

"What exactly are you looking for and where is your search warrant? You may not search my car."

If you do not consent and the officer states he is going to search your car anyway, do NOT oppose the officer. Tell him you do NOT consent, ask him if he has probable cause to search, and keep it at that. You can exercise your legal options later. If you oppose the officer and get arrested, then now the officer can search your car legally (called a search incident to arrest.)

PLEASE EVERYONE, do not give away your rights too easily.. They are being taken systematically already! Know your rights and please assert them.

Consent overrides everything. If you give him consent he can go to town. If you don't, he can call the dogs to the scene but only within a certain amount of time.

Example: you get pulled over and he asks to search your car. You say no, he goes back to his squad car and radios' in a K-9 unit. That K-9 unit has a certain amount of time to show up before he lets you go. It should only take the K-9 unit the same amount of time as to writing a ticket to show up. On average it only takes 10 - 12 mins to write you a ticket. If the cop holds you say for 30 - 45 mins and the K-9 unit shows up and searches your car, regardless of what they find, your case will be thrown out in court. Everything is time stamped so they know when you got pulled over, when the radio call for the K-9 unit came in and when the K-9 unit arrived.

[DHolmes]

Next time you get pulled over for a nuisance, don't be afraid to ask the cop how long he's been on the force. It's usually the ones with under 4 years who stop you for stuff like that.[/QUOTE]

this officer has been on the force for 25 years,I asked

[e40]

That's true, but in a lot of cases this only causes the officer to think you have something to hide and he'll make you wait around for a drug dog to arrive. They can have a dog sniff the vehicle any time they want, and if the dog hits on the car they can legally search. I've been pulled over many times and have never gotten a ticket and never had a request to search my vehicle. A lot of how the traffic stop goes is in how you treat the officer. It's very easy to talk your way into a ticket. Even your non-verbal cues and attitude can affect the officer's impression of you. Arguing with the officer is not going to change his mind (unless you can point out some portion of a written law he is ignoring or forgetting, but even then...) and will only garauntee you a ticket. Your time to argue your point is in court after you've gotten the tickket. But if you act civily and the crime wasn' horrible, you probably won't even get a ticket in the first place.

If you truly do not have anything to hide, yu're not giving up any rights by consenting to a search. It's your right to consent. It's also your right to refuse.

As I quoted earlier, I guess I wouldn't say 'Where's your search warrant', because that would make me come off as a street lawyer, or a smart a$$, etc..

I would politely say, "No, I do not give you consent to search my _____". That's it.

If you consent to a search, like Taso said, that gives them 'Go for throttle-up' to look for whatever they please.

You're on a long road trip with your family. Imagine having everything thrown out of your car. Then when they find nothing, you're left on the side of the interstate with all your nicely packed luggage emptied out all over the shoulder blowing away. "You're clean, you're free to go, have a nice day!"

Yes, a drug dog is likely to be sent out. If they can get one in a timely manner. Still probably quicker than having your belongings rifled through.

Now, lets say the LEO is really suspicious of you and gets a warrant. Well, be prepared to wait around while an affidavit is written, a judge is found, signs the warrant, swears the warrant, then hustles back to your location. Then, at least at that point the warrant needs to be SPECIFIC on what he's looking for.

For instance, say the warrant is for drugs. His search came up with no drugs, BUT, he did find a burned copy of a CD in your head unit. Well, guess what, if you consented to a search earlier, you're on the hook for that pirated CD because he can look for ANYthing.

That's why it's important to use your 4th amendment rights, while at the same time, be polite about it, and insist the LEO play by the rules.

[96FirebirdFormula]

Well i got pulled over last year for no tag light burnt out and my headlight didn't popup turned it off and on then worked. cop just told me to get tag light fixed didn't write anything just checked License and registration then let me go.

[Dave M]

As I quoted earlier, I guess I wouldn't say 'Where's your search warrant', because that would make me come off as a street lawyer, or a smart a$$, etc..

I would politely say, "No, I do not give you consent to search my _____". That's it.

If you consent to a search, like Taso said, that gives them 'Go for throttle-up' to look for whatever they please.

You're on a long road trip with your family. Imagine having everything thrown out of your car. Then when they find nothing, you're left on the side of the interstate with all your nicely packed luggage emptied out all over the shoulder blowing away. "You're clean, you're free to go, have a nice day!"

Yes, a drug dog is likely to be sent out. If they can get one in a timely manner. Still probably quicker than having your belongings rifled through.

Now, lets say the LEO is really suspicious of you and gets a warrant. Well, be prepared to wait around while an affidavit is written, a judge is found, signs the warrant, swears the warrant, then hustles back to your location. Then, at least at that point the warrant needs to be SPECIFIC on what he's looking for.

For instance, say the warrant is for drugs. His search came up with no drugs, BUT, he did find a burned copy of a CD in your head unit. Well, guess what, if you consented to a search earlier, you're on the hook for that pirated CD because he can look for ANYthing.

That's why it's important to use your 4th amendment rights, while at the same time, be polite about it, and insist the LEO play by the rules.

That's all very true and good points, but the Supreme Court has ruled that vehicles are special when it comes to warrants. Because of their mobile nature, police usually don't need warrants to search vehicles. If the officer has probable cause, he can seach without having to obtain a warrant because of the possibility the evidence could be moved or destroyed. (this is a general statement and may not apply in all cases. But remember, to get a warrant an officer needs probable cause anyway). But an important point to remember is that if the officer has probable cause to believe you've got a dead body in your car, for example, he can only search areas that can hold a body. He couldn't legally search the glove compartment if he's looking for a body, for example. If he's looking for a gun or drugs, then the areas he can search increase greatly because of the small size of these items. However, if you give consent to search he can search anywhere for anything. If he arrests you for something, he can search 'incident to arrest' which means he can search anywhere you conceivably had control over, whether it be a car or a room in a house, etc.

There have been a lot of interesting Supreme Court cases over the searching of vehicles.

[e40]

Yep, good points made there.

Also remember what justifies 'Probable Cause'... The LEO must have "knowledge" that a crime was committed (not just a hunch), and have some way to connect you to that crime.

[BrdWAtti2d]

BUT, he did find a burned copy of a CD in your head unit.

That's a pretty big stretch. It's not illegal to make a backup copy of any CD/DVD you own as long as it is for your own private use; this includes a compilation of digital media from various CD/DVD’s you own, including software. Thank the VCR manufacturers back in the day for that one. The officer would have no way of knowing.

[e40]

That's a pretty big stretch. It's not illegal to make a backup copy of any CD/DVD you own as long as it is for your own private use; this includes a compilation of digital media from various CD/DVD’s you own, including software. Thank the VCR manufacturers back in the day for that one. The officer would have no way of knowing.

Middleton man arrested for pirated DVDs after traffic stop

http://www.madison.com/tct/news/index.php?ntid=206690

Of course, the LIO saw 'hundreds' of DVD's on the seat, which makes it pretty obvious he's a pirate.

BUT - he did not consent to the search of the second vehicle, which was believed to have more DVD's in it.

Interesting...