My question involves criminal law for the state of: New York
My son was in a car that got pulled over for "illegal lane change". He was a passenger. The cop asked for the drivers license, then went to his car, came back and asked for everyones license. Then came back and asked the driver to get out. Asked a bunch of questions re: had he been drinking, anything on him etc. Proceeded to search him, found nothing. Then had my son get out to search him and the 3rd person as well. At no point did he give a reason or have a reason. However after the searches, he told them to go sit on the guardrail and while walking drugs (10 xanax) fell out of my sons pant leg. He ended up being charged with a misdemeanor.
My question is did he legally have a right to search all of them. This seems extreme to me. Trust me, I'm livid with my child but truly curious about why that was even legal. Unfortunately in NYS at 17 he is an adult and is supposed to be going off to college soon and having a record isn't ideal at all. Can anyone give some insight to this? I feel like it will just come down to the cop making up something to justify so I doubt there is anything we can do but curious about why this was legal. Thanks!

