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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
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    4

    Default Defenses to a Misdemeanor Drug Charge

    My question involves criminal law for the state of: My girlfriend was arrested for drug possession in Pennsylvania. My car was pulled over being driven by a friend of hers for turning the wrong way on a one way street. The officer asked for license and registration and also for the names/id's of the passengers in the car. One of the passengers had a warrant for their arrest in another state. The driver was being questioned as though they were driving under the influence. My girl friend was in the front passenger seat and was asked to exit the car. While all three were being detained outside of the car the car was searched by several officers without permission given or even requested. There was nothing visible from outside the car and no odors to be used as probable cause to do un unwarranted search. Can the officers legally search the vehicle for either the belief the driver was impaired or because one of the passengers had a warrant for their arrest?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
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    8,238

    Default Re: Misdemeanor Drug Charge

    We would need to know more facts, including the officer’s reasoning for the search, to determine if the search was valid. But let’s start here: was the driver arrested for DUI prior the search being done? If so and the car was going to be impounded due to the arrest then search would be lawful as an inventory search of the car. The persons facing drug charges need to ask their attorneys whether there may be any basis to suppress the evidence found based on the search.

  3. #3
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    Apr 2017
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    Default Re: Misdemeanor Drug Charge

    All three were out of the car with their hands on the trunk and then the officers searched the car. No one had been arrested yet and the car wasnt being impounded at the time

  4. #4
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    Sep 2005
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    Default Re: Misdemeanor Drug Charge

    Somehow, prior to the search, this went from being a simple traffic stop to a significant incident involving multiple patrol cars and officers. The facts matter.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
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    Tacoma, WA
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    Default Re: Misdemeanor Drug Charge

    Quote Quoting mm82612010
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    Can the officers legally search the vehicle for either the belief the driver was impaired or because one of the passengers had a warrant for their arrest?
    The answer to your question is not as straight forward as you may think. First off, unless you have already obtained a copy of the officer(s) statement, you are only assuming that one of these reasons was used as justification for the search. Since you were not even there, you can only assume that the officers did not see or smell anything to prompt the search, that no permission was given, or that there was not some other justification for the search.

    With those caveats, I will try to answer your questions. First, arrest on a warrant will generally not justify a search of a vehicle incident to the arrest. However, “search” legally has some different meanings. Depending on what the warrant was for, the arrestee’s criminal history, some circumstances encountered during the arrest, the officers may have been justified in conducting a “protective sweep” of the vehicle for weapons. If other contraband is discovered during this sweep (presuming that the officers conducted the sweep as lawfully allowed) it can be seized and would be admissible as evidence – at the very least, it would provide probable cause for the vehicle to be impounded and held while a warrant is obtained.

    Similarly, an investigation into DUI would not generally provide legal reason to search the vehicle. However, an arrest for DUI would allow for a search incident to arrest for any evidence related to the DUI arrest (alcohol containers, drugs, etc.). Was the driver arrested or just investigated and released?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    301

    Default Re: Misdemeanor Drug Charge

    That's the kind of analysis the GF's attorney will conduct. She must either hire a lawyer or apply for a public defender. This is not amateur stuff...

  7. #7
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    Apr 2017
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    Default Re: Misdemeanor Drug Charge

    Removed

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
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    8,238

    Default Re: Misdemeanor Drug Charge

    Quote Quoting mm82612010
    View Post
    I am asking if these are reasons because there was nothing else that I know of that could have initiated the search. We do not have the full police report and have not contacted a lawyer yet, i am trying to get as much information so we can discuss her options in this case better with a lawyer.
    This is not something that “we” do. If she is facing charges from this, then she is the one who will need to meet with the lawyer alone and she is the one to review the options in the case. If you were to attend the meeting with the lawyer that would destroy attorney-client privilege and confidentiality, and that would allow the prosecution to get whatever was discussed. That would be a horrible result. Similarly, if she discusses things with you, she makes you a potential witness against her and also may destroy the attorney-client privilege. So she needs to discuss this only with her attorney. I realize that you are close to her and want to help her, but here your help could be turned against her.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
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    4

    Default Re: Misdemeanor Drug Charge

    Thanks, I appreciate the advise

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