During a traffic stop, the police officer may ask whether you have anything illegal in your vehicle or request permission to search your car. They may even order you out of your vehicle and search it regardless of whether you consent. Police may search a vehicle with the owner’s or driver’s consent or with a search warrant issued by a court. They may also search a car when they have probable cause to believe the vehicle contains evidence of a crime and it would be impractical to get a warrant without risking the loss or destruction of criminal evidence.
Do you believe police searched your vehicle when they did not have the legal right to do so? An experienced criminal defense attorney can review the facts and circumstances of the police search to determine whether officers violated your rights.
When Can the Police Search Your Car in New Jersey?
During a traffic stop or after impounding your vehicle after a stop or an arrest, police in New Jersey may decide to search your vehicle for evidence of a crime or dangerous weapons. However, laws and civil rights limit the circumstances under which law enforcement can search an individual’s vehicle. So, when can the police search your car in New Jersey?
Search Based on Your Consent
Police may search an individual’s vehicle at any time and under any circumstances if the vehicle’s driver or owner consents to a search. Officers do not need probable cause or reasonable suspicion to search a vehicle with consent.
Search With a Valid Warrant
Law enforcement can search a person’s vehicle, even without their consent, if they obtain a valid search warrant from the court. When applying for a search warrant, the police must write an affidavit in support of the application. The affidavit must describe the facts officers have that give the police probable cause to believe a vehicle contains evidence of a crime.
The New Jersey Automobile Exception
Most searches during traffic stops occur under the automobile exception to the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement. Courts have recognized that, under the automobile exception, a vehicle’s mobile nature means police may lose the opportunity to obtain a warrant to search a vehicle for evidence of a crime if a person drives the vehicle away to dispose of the evidence. An officer must have probable cause to conduct a warrantless search under the automobile exception.
Inventory Searches After Impound
When police impound a vehicle after arresting the driver, they may lawfully conduct an inventory search under certain circumstances. An inventory search documents a vehicle’s contents in case the driver or owner later claims items went missing while in police custody, and it cannot be used to search for evidence of a crime. Police departments must have written protocols for inventory searches.
Protective Sweeps for Officer Safety
During a traffic stop, an officer may conduct a protective sweep of the passenger compartment to look for dangerous weapons if the officer has reasonable, articulable suspicion of a vehicle occupant’s dangerousness and a risk that an occupant may attempt to access a weapon during the stop. The protective sweep allows an officer to search the passenger compartment and secure any dangerous weapons to ensure the officer’s safety during the traffic stop.
Can Police Search Your Car Without a Warrant in NJ?
Police can search a vehicle without a warrant when they have the driver’s or owner’s consent, under the automobile exception with probable cause, or in an inventory search or protective sweep. Otherwise, officers cannot search a vehicle. Law enforcement officers may not justify a warrantless search based on a hunch or an occupant’s nervousness. Officers also cannot search based on racial profiling in traffic stops in New Jersey.
What Should You Do If Police Ask to Search Your Car?
When an officer asks to search your vehicle, you should refuse to consent to a search, as it is your right. The officer must either obtain a search warrant or have probable cause to support a warrantless search under the automobile exception.
Your Rights During a New Jersey Traffic Stop
Under the Fourth Amendment, you have the right not to have your vehicle searched during a traffic stop unless police obtain a search warrant or they can justify the search with probable cause under the automobile exception. The exception requires officers to have probable cause to believe that a crime has occurred and that the vehicle contains evidence of it. Probable cause requires more evidence than reasonable suspicion, which can justify a traffic stop or prolonging it.
Consequences of an Illegal Car Search in New Jersey
When police conduct an unlawful vehicle search in New Jersey, a court may exclude any criminal evidence found under the exclusionary rule. The exclusionary rule protects citizens’ rights by preventing prosecutors from using evidence obtained in an illegal search. A defendant can file a motion to exclude unlawfully obtained evidence.
Do You Have to Consent to a Search of Your Car If the Police Ask?
Under constitutional law, you never have to consent to a police request to search your vehicle without a warrant. However, when a police officer asks to search your vehicle during a traffic stop, refusing consent may heighten the officer’s suspicion that you have contraband or evidence of a crime inside the vehicle. As a result, the officer might investigate further to obtain facts supporting probable cause to search your vehicle, such as calling in a police canine to sniff around your vehicle for odors of drugs or other contraband. Police may also develop probable cause to search your vehicle if you display signs of drug intoxication or if the officer observes contraband or potentially dangerous items like drugs in plain view while speaking to you from outside the vehicle.
However, the law does not permit police to unreasonably extend or delay a legitimate traffic stop to investigate mere hunches or suspicions of criminal activity. Once an officer has completed the purpose of a traffic stop – such as issuing you a written warning or traffic citation – the officer cannot continue to detain you without reasonable suspicion or probable cause of other criminal activity.
What Is Considered Probable Cause?
The law requires police to have probable cause to get a search warrant from a court or justify a warrantless search under one of the judicially recognized exceptions to the warrant requirement. An officer may have probable cause when they learn of facts that provide a reasonable belief that a crime has occurred and that they may find evidence of the crime in the place they intend to search – such as a suspect’s vehicle. When applying for a search warrant, a police officer must submit an affidavit stating the facts and evidence that have led them to develop probable cause. If a court agrees that probable cause exists, it will approve the search warrant.
Crucially, probable cause can also justify a warrantless search, including a vehicle search during a traffic stop. However, for police to conduct a valid warrantless vehicle search, they must show that they developed probable cause for the search under “unforeseeable and spontaneous” circumstances and that the situation involved exigent circumstances.
Here’s what those terms mean:
- Unforeseeable and spontaneous – For example, a police officer may develop “unforeseeable and spontaneous” probable cause when they pull a driver over for a traffic infraction but observe evidence of drug possession during the traffic stop. However, a court may rule that probable cause has not developed unexpectedly or spontaneously if police pull over a driver they suspect of possessing drugs as soon as they witness the driver commit a traffic infraction. In other words, the “unforeseeable and spontaneous” requirement would not be met if the traffic stop was merely an excuse to investigate the driver and develop probable cause for a search.
- Exigent circumstances – These are factors that make it impossible or impractical for police to preserve evidence while getting a search warrant from the court, creating the risk of the loss or destruction of evidence. A vehicle’s mobility may create exigent circumstances justifying a warrantless search. However, those exigent circumstances can disappear as soon as police impound the car, as they can then secure and protect the vehicle from interference while they obtain a search warrant.
What Happens If the Police Find Something While Searching Your Car?
If the police find contraband or evidence of a crime while searching your vehicle during a traffic stop, they will collect and preserve that evidence and place you under criminal arrest. However, just because police found evidence of a crime in your car does not automatically mean you will be convicted. Depending on the circumstances, the evidence they obtained might not be admissible at trial.
Your criminal defense strategy may involve arguing that police unlawfully searched your vehicle because they lacked probable cause or exigent circumstances justifying a warrantless search. If the court agrees that the police lacked a lawful basis for their search, it may exclude any evidence obtained that way – a decision that could ruin the prosecution’s case against you.
What Steps Should You Take If Your Rights Have Been Violated?
Here are some specific actions you can take to protect your interests if you think the police have searched your vehicle in violation of your rights:
- Do not try to resist or prevent the officers from searching your vehicle. This may be a separate criminal offense like obstructing a police officer.
- Make notes after your encounter with the police to document what happened, which can help you contest the officer’s testimony supporting their decision to search your vehicle.
- Contact a criminal defense attorney as soon as possible. A lawyer can review the facts of your case and file a motion to suppress any evidence found during the unlawful search of your vehicle, if appropriate.
FAQs
Can I Refuse a Search of My Car in New Jersey?
You can always refuse consent to a search of your car. However, if an officer believes they have lawful authority to conduct a search under the automobile exception or a protective sweep, you should not impede the officer’s search. If you do, you could face other criminal charges.
Can Police Search My Trunk or Locked Glove Box Without a Warrant?
Police may not search a locked compartment of a vehicle without a search warrant unless they develop probable cause, based on specific, articulable facts, to believe that the compartment contains evidence of a crime. Officers can also search locked compartments with a driver’s or owner’s consent.
Can Police Search My Car If I’m Only Getting a Ticket?
Police may not unreasonably extend a traffic stop for a moving violation. However, if an officer learns of other facts during the normal course of a traffic stop that give probable cause to believe another criminal offense has occurred and that the vehicle contains evidence, the police may have the authority to search the vehicle.
Can Police Search My Car After a DUI Stop in New Jersey?
A DUI arrest does not automatically authorize a search of your vehicle. Instead, police must have a warrant or justify a warrantless search under the automobile exception. Police may also conduct an inventory search if they impound your vehicle when you cannot arrange to have someone else drive it away from the scene.
What If I Already Agreed to a Search?
You have the right to withdraw your consent to the police’s search of your vehicle at any time during the search. If you withdraw your consent, the officers must immediately stop their search.
Why You Should Talk to a New Jersey Criminal Defense Lawyer
If the police searched your vehicle during a traffic stop, a criminal defense attorney from the Law Office of Jason A. Volet can help you protect your rights. Our firm can review the circumstances of the search and file motions to exclude evidence from improper searches.
Attorney Jason Volet has over 30 years of experience as both a defense attorney and prosecutor in New Jersey’s criminal justice system, having worked on more than 4,000 cases. His certification as a Criminal Trial Attorney by the New Jersey Supreme Court also reflects his in-depth knowledge of search and seizure rules under criminal law and procedure.
Contact a New Jersey Criminal Defense Lawyer
Are you facing criminal charges stemming from a police search of your vehicle? Then contact the Law Office of Jason A. Volet today for a free, confidential consultation to learn more about your rights and how a New Jersey criminal defense lawyer can protect them.
