Police are responsible for a lot of our everyday lives, from performing traffic stops to investigating crime.
In this video, we’ll show you how a Police Search can happen, and how it could lead to a shocking car search. We’ll cover topics like the Fourth Amendment and how it applies to vehicle searches, as well as the law surrounding Police Searches. Watch this video to learn more about Police Searches and how they could lead to a car search that you never expected!
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Transcript
00;00;00;14 – 00;00;08;29
Speaker 1
Hi, everybody. Can the police search your vehicle after they arrest you? This is Christina Williams with Just Criminal Law.
00;00;09;02 – 00;00;27;18
Speaker 2
And this is David Madden, legal storytelling specialist. Well, that’s a good question. I think we’ve we’ve seen scenarios like that probably in movies or TV shows. You know. It seems like the police are always searching something and it’s all very kind of confrontational, so. Well. Can they or can’t they?
00;00;27;28 – 00;00;42;24
Speaker 1
Well, in most instances, the answer to that is no. You have the right to privacy that extends to your vehicle, just like they can’t search your home. They also can’t search your vehicle without your consent or without a warrant.
00;00;43;06 – 00;00;59;10
Speaker 2
Okay. So if if they have suspected you, I mean, they wouldn’t be there with you doing anything if they didn’t suspect something had happened. So maybe, for instance, what kind of situation be like they maybe they suspect that you have drugs in your car or something like that.
00;01;00;02 – 00;01;26;17
Speaker 1
Well, so that’s a situation where that’s one of the first exceptions. Say they pull you over, they start asking you questions. You admit to having marijuana in your car and you hand over the marijuana to them. In that situation, they can search your entire vehicle because they get the exception of if they believe there’s evidence of the thing they’re arresting you for, that is the possession of marijuana.
00;01;26;17 – 00;01;31;18
Speaker 1
If they believe there’s more marijuana in the car, then yes, they can search it under those facts.
00;01;31;20 – 00;01;40;20
Speaker 2
Okay. And but normally they can’t they can’t just arrest you for littering and then start searching your car. Right? Right.
00;01;40;23 – 00;02;05;19
Speaker 1
Or even say, you know, you just a run of the mill standard DUI where, you know, they follow you out of the parking lot of the bar. You don’t have any alcohol in your vehicle or anything. And they do an investigation and ultimately arrest you for a DUI. They’re not allowed then to go through your car and search it under just those circumstances, because they’re not going to find any other evidence of the DUI.
00;02;05;25 – 00;02;20;20
Speaker 2
Right. So they can’t, like, pull you over for maybe speeding or something even less than a DUI. They come up to your window. They see in the backseat you have some mysterious looking duffle bag. They can’t just say, I’m going to hand me that duffel bag and let me look through it. That’s what they can’t do. Right.
00;02;21;15 – 00;02;34;07
Speaker 1
Right. And unfortunately, a lot of times people get drug into a conversation where they ultimately, when I see them consent to the search. And that’s that’s something they don’t have to do.
00;02;35;00 – 00;02;40;22
Speaker 2
Okay. So has there been any Supreme Court weighing in on this topic?
00;02;41;09 – 00;03;13;19
Speaker 1
Well, there’s a Seminole case out of Arizona where law enforcement knew that the defendant in that case had a suspended license. And so when he pulled up to his residence. Law enforcement walked up to him and, you know, said, hey, we know you’re driving under a suspended license. We’re going to arrest you for that. And then in that case, they searched his vehicle, found some stuff that was illegal and charged him with additional crimes.
00;03;14;10 – 00;03;29;24
Speaker 1
That was not okay. So he was arrested for driving on a suspended license. They don’t get to then search his vehicle because there is nothing in the way of evidence that they suspect they’ll find. And so that kind of search is illegal.
00;03;30;08 – 00;03;57;26
Speaker 2
I see. Okay. So but here’s the thing, is that somebody in so that that case got brought all the way up to the Supreme Court. I imagine it wasn’t just that guy by himself doing that. So if you if you find yourself in a situation where you’ve you you may have inadvertently let the police search, search your car, and now you’re realizing I didn’t ever have to let them do that.
00;03;58;03 – 00;04;00;09
Speaker 2
There’s still probably hope for you, right?
00;04;01;03 – 00;04;20;12
Speaker 1
Right. I mean, the police have to be very careful about how they end up getting to the point in their investigation where they search your vehicle And a lot of times they make mistakes. So we can definitely help you in that kind of scenario. We’ve helped lots of people get past that.
00;04;20;16 – 00;04;25;02
Speaker 2
Okay. So they need a lawyer. You’re a good choice. And how do they get a hold of you to do that?
00;04;25;17 – 00;04;37;12
Speaker 1
We will include a link in the description. They can call, text or chat with a member of my team anytime, day or night here at Just Criminal Law. We know you only get one shot at Justice. So make yours count.
