{"id":16980,"date":"2015-02-23T15:11:54","date_gmt":"2015-02-23T15:11:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/clekis.com\/?p=16980"},"modified":"2015-02-23T15:11:54","modified_gmt":"2015-02-23T15:11:54","slug":"vehicle-probable-cause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/vehicle-probable-cause\/","title":{"rendered":"Police Do Not Always Need Probable Cause"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"vehicle<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>While police generally need a warrant to search you or your property, when it comes to searching your vehicle, they only need probable cause. In other words, an officer\u2019s hunch without evidence of illegal activity is not enough to legally search your car. Examples of probable cause may include the sight or smell of contraband in plain view or plain smell, or an admission of guilt for a specific crime. Minor traffic violations are not <\/em>considered probable cause.<\/p>\n

Can I keep police from searching my car?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes and No. It depends of the situation and how you handle it. An officer may try to exploit a major loophole to the probable cause search requirement by gaining your consent. If you give the officer your consent, he can search your car even without probable cause.<\/p>\n

You Have the Right to Refuse Search Requests<\/strong><\/p>\n

If the police request that your step out of the vehicle, do so calmly and slowly. \u00a0If they have reasonable suspicion to detain you, police may frisk the outside of your clothing to check for weapons, but only if they have bases for suspecting you\u2019re armed.<\/p>\n

If police detain and frisk you, you have the right to clearly state your refusal to consent to the search. You may say\u00a0\u201cOfficer, I\u2019m not resisting. I do not consent to this search\u201d. But you should only verbally refuse. Never physically resist. Touching an officer may be enough to get you a felony charge for assaulting an officer.<\/p>\n

The police may ask you a series of questions. Be aware that questions such as \u201cYou don\u2019t mind if I have a look in your car?\u201d are an attempt to circumvent the probable cause requirement.\u00a0 While it\u00a0might sound like a command, it\u2019s technically a request.<\/p>\n

Your are completely within your rights to respond with \u00a0\u201cOfficer, I know you\u2019re just doing your job, but I don\u2019t consent to searches.\u201d\u00a0 Don\u2019t fall for tricks like \u201cWhat do you have to hide?\u201d \u00a0If necessary, repeat your refusal.<\/p>\n

The\u00a04th Amendment<\/a>\u00a0protects your right to refuse a search, but the police are not required to inform you of your right to refuse.\u00a0Consenting to a search automatically makes it legal in the eyes of the law.\u00a0So if you\u2019re pulled over, don\u2019t try to figure out whether or not the officer has probable cause to legally search you. You always have the right to refuse searches.<\/p>\n

Refusing a search request is not an admission of guilt and does not give the officer the legal right to search or detain you. In fact, most avoidable police searches don\u2019t occur because police have probable cause. They occur because people get tricked or intimidated into consenting to search requests.<\/p>\n

If police search your car and find illegal items despite your refusal, your lawyer can file a<\/p>\n

motion to throw out the evidence . If the judge agrees that the officer\u2019s search violated the 4th Amendment\u2019s probable cause requirements, she\u2019ll grant the motion. Without further evidence , your charges would be dismissed.<\/p>\n

Determine if You\u2019re Free to Go<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unless you\u2019re detained or arrested, you may leave the scene at any time. You do not need to wait for the officer to dismiss you. You are within your rights to ask if you\u2019re free to go.<\/p>\n

For example, if an officer threatens to call in a K-9 unit if you refuse a search, you should ask\u201cOfficer, are you detaining me, or am I free to go?\u201d<\/p>\n

This line can help withdraw you from an encounter, it also deflects any of the officer\u2019s probing questions or threats. So if an officer says \u201cIf you cooperate with me, everything will go easy for you.\u201d You may respond by saying either\u00a0\u201cOfficer, I don\u2019t consent to any searches\u201d\u00a0or\u00a0\u201cOfficer, am I free to go?\u201d<\/p>\n

If the officer lets you leave, do so immediately. If the officer\u2019s answer is unclear, or if he asks additional questions, persist by repeating\u00a0\u201cOfficer, am I free to go?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ask for a Lawyer<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you are being detained or arrested, simply state \u00a0\u201cI\u2019m going to remain silent. I would like to see a lawyer\u201d and say not more. These magic words are like a legal condom. They\u2019re your best protection if you\u2019re under arrest.<\/p>\n

Never rely on police to inform you of your right to remain silent and see a lawyer. Repeat the magic words as necessary, but say no more. Remember that anything you say can and will be used against you in court.<\/p>\n

Above all, remain calm!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0While police generally need a warrant to search you or your property, when it comes to searching your vehicle, they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,116],"tags":[740,736,737,738,739],"class_list":["post-16980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-legal-blog","tag-vehicle-search","tag-consent-to-search","tag-probable-cause","tag-right-to-remain-silent","tag-unlawful-search"],"yoast_head":"\nPolice Do Not Always Need Probable Cause - MMG Resources<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"While police generally need a warrant to search you or your property, when it comes to searching your vehicle, they only need probable cause\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/vehicle-probable-cause\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Police Do Not Always Need Probable Cause\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While police generally need a warrant to search you or your property, when it comes to searching your vehicle, they only need probable cause\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/themediabeast.com\/resources\/vehicle-probable-cause\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MMG Resources\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-02-23T15:11:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/clekis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/probable-cause.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MediaBeast\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MediaBeast\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/vehicle-probable-cause\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/vehicle-probable-cause\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"MediaBeast\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f1e4fbc14f15dffe99af02d0efb60287\"},\"headline\":\"Police Do Not Always Need Probable Cause\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-23T15:11:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/vehicle-probable-cause\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":780,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/vehicle-probable-cause\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/clekis.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/probable-cause.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"vehicle search\",\"consent to search\",\"probable cause\",\"right to remain silent\",\"unlawful search\"],\"articleSection\":{\"1\":\"Legal Blog\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/vehicle-probable-cause\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themediabeast.com\\\/resources\\\/vehicle-probable-cause\\\/\",\"name\":\"Police Do Not Always Need Probable Cause - 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