Underage Drug Possession, Illegal Search

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Pennsylvania

Last week I was in the passenger seat of my friends car with a girl in the back that he was dropping off at her friends house.

We got to the town and the driver was not familiar with the area. He drove straight in a right turn only lane by accident. While he went down that road a police car turned on its headlights. There was nowhere to pull off to the side so he continued driving cautiously until he saw a parking lot and he pulled in there.

There were 3-4 police cars that entered the parking lot. Officers were surrounding the outside of the car and told the girl in the back and I to hold our hands up and not to move. An officer ordered the driver out of the car. The officers around the car shouted at us to not move even though we were perfectly still, and then one officer said something like "they were dumping something, I saw it"

The officers ordered me and the girl out of the car. One of the officers told me to stand with my legs spread apart and my hands on my head. I cooperated and when I had my legs apart, the officer continued to yell at me to have my feet spread apart and that if I didn't cooperate they would throw me down. I explained that I couldn't stand with my legs any further apart, I did not understand why there was an issue. Also, the girl that was in the back had her hands on her head and a cop yanked her hands along with her hair when he walked her away for questioning.

At this point there were several officers searching through the drivers car. I heard him say, "I never gave you permission to search my car" from where I was standing. The officers found a bottle of liquor, several empty beer bottles in a shoebox in the back, and pipe that only ever had legal incense burning in it. The cop claimed that the pipe reaked of marijuana, even though there was never any marijuana in it. I explained that I didn't know there was alcohol in the car, I wasn't drinking, and that I would take a breathalizer.

They immediately searched me. I said that I'm not consenting to a search and the cops just laughed and said we know more about the law than you. I had some of my prescription ADD meds out of container, as well as 4 more ADD pills that were not prescribed to me in my back pocket. After finding the pills, they handcuffed me and sent me to the holding cell. At the holding cell they also strip searched me.

I need some advice, I feel like they did not have reasonable suspicion to search my friends car in the first place. The girl already got charges in the mail for $250+ open container and possession of alcohol and I just found out the driver owes over $600+.

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Quoting necrobutcher

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We got to the town and the driver was not familiar with the area. He drove straight in a right turn only lane by accident. While he went down that road a police car turned on its headlights. There was nowhere to pull off to the side so he continued driving cautiously until he saw a parking lot and he pulled in there.

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Your friend yielded to headlights? Or did you mean that the officer activated his emergency lights?

If your friend delayed too long to pull over that could give the officer some concern ... I know it would give me concern.

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There were 3-4 police cars that entered the parking lot. Officers were surrounding the outside of the car and told the girl in the back and I to hold our hands up and not to move.

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Sounds like they were thinking evasion.

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An officer ordered the driver out of the car. The officers around the car shouted at us to not move even though we were perfectly still, and then one officer said something like "they were dumping something, I saw it"

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Apparently the oficer believed someone was making some furtive movements in the vehicle to hide contraband or weapons.

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I need some advice, I feel like they did not have reasonable suspicion to search my friends car in the first place.

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That will be for your friend to assert. Until your attorney can read the police report, we do not know why the officers searched the car. If they smelled the alcohol or marijuana, or saw the booze bottles, they likely had good cause to make the search. This is what happens when you travel around with pipes and alcohol.

Thanks for your response.

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Your friend yielded to headlights? Or did you mean that the officer activated his emergency lights?

If your friend delayed too long to pull over that could give the officer some concern ... I know it would give me concern.

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The police car immediately turned on its lights and siren. There really was no where to pull over, it was a busy street and no where to go on the side. He must have driven less than a block, at a slow pace. He wasn't trying to evade at all.

I never got the police report even though the other 2 people got their charges in the mail. I will update with what they say, thanks again..

Next time you have an officer behind you with the lights on you pull right over to the side of the road, if the officer doesn't feel safe were you stopped at, he will address it over the PA system in his car and tell you were to pull over. The longer a driver takes to pull to the side of the road the more the officer suspects that the driver is hiding contraband or a weapon.

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Quoting Who'sThatGuy

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Next time you have an officer behind you with the lights on you pull right over to the side of the road, if the officer doesn't feel safe were you stopped at, he will address it over the PA system in his car and tell you were to pull over. The longer a driver takes to pull to the side of the road the more the officer suspects that the driver is hiding contraband or a weapon.

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I understand that. I wasn't the one driving but there really was no space to safely go to the side, there were cars lined along the road until that parking lot. It took us 10-20 seconds to pull over after the lights and sirens went on.

By law, you are required to pull over immediately when the police officer turns his lights on. Even if there are cars parked next to you. The cars in the road begind you will just have to go around you and the police car. Again if the cop feels unsafe where he pulled you over he will address you over the PA where to go.

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Quoting Who'sThatGuy

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By law, you are required to pull over immediately when the police officer turns his lights on. Even if there are cars parked next to you. The cars in the road will just have to go around you and the police car. Again if the cop feels unsafe where he pulled you over he will address you over the PA where to go.

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It was a tight one way street and pulling over would block off all traffic. Is not pulling over immediately reasonable suspicion or probable cause to search the vehicle?

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Quoting necrobutcher

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It was a tight one way street and pulling over would block off all traffic. Is not pulling over immediately reasonable suspicion or probable cause to search the vehicle?

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Well then thanks to your buddy's actions, you got arrested.

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Quoting Who'sThatGuy

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Well then thanks to your buddy's actions, you got arrested.

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I'm aware of that already, trust me.. Do you have an answer to my question?

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Quoting necrobutcher

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It was a tight one way street and pulling over would block off all traffic. Is not pulling over immediately reasonable suspicion or probable cause to search the vehicle?

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If the officer states that it took you 20 to 30 seconds to pull over and within that time he saw movement in the vehicle that indicated someone was hiding a weapon or contraband, yes.

Could he have seen an open bottle of beer in the car, that would also do it.

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Quoting Who'sThatGuy

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If the officer states that it took you 20 to 30 seconds to pull over and within that time he saw movement in the vehicle that indicated someone was hiding a weapon or contraband, yes.

Could he have seen an open bottle of beer in the car, that would also do it.

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We were all sitting rather still, the only movement might have been when he couldn't figure out where to pull over.
I didn't see exactly where the liquor bottle was at except it was in the back probably under the seat. It was in a brown paper bag. The beer bottles were inside of a shoe box.

It's the officers word against yours. His word is going to let the search stand as legal.

It is not credible that three or four police vehicles would have responded to the scene within the mere ten to twenty seconds or so that the driver supposedly took to find a place to pull over.

It sounds like the driver ended up charged with some sort of crime in association with his failure to stop for an emergency vehicle which would have resulted in the search of the vehicle being classified as a search incident to arrest. What offense was the driver charged with committing?

How do you know "the only way" your friend ever used his pipe?

I expect that the police report will justify your initial detention based upon your being in a vehicle that failed to pull over when the police attempted to stop it, and that the evidence they found in the vehicle, your alleged furtive gestures / "dumping" movements, and the various statements you voluntarily made while they were searching the car gave them probable cause to search you. If you do not yet know those details, I suggest having your lawyer obtain a copy of the police report and discussing the legal basis of the search with your lawyer.