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.
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.
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.
