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Originally Posted by Hardknock
Not quite. If you had a gun sitting on the dash when he pulled you over, then yeah he has probable cause. Minus that, a cop has no reason to search your car if he pulled you over. You got stopped for speeding, running a red light, whatever. Not becasue you have 5 kilos of coke under the floorboard in your trunk. He doesn't know that, and unless you volunteer the info (then things change) or give consent right then and there, he can't search your car. Period.
Ever hear of the 4th amendment?
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Bullshit! All the cop has to say in court is that he 'thought' he saw or smelled something and at that point he thought that a search of the vehicle is warrented.
It may not be totatlly legal, but it is done all the time. I brother-in-law's girlfriend got a DUI last summer even though her BAC was under the legal limit. She got pulled over for crossing the fogline on a 4 lane road pulling out of the restauranty they were at. She had never drove the truck before, so she wasn't used to it. She did not have the money to get a lawyer and contest it as hard as she should have even thought the DA said that this cop was known for doing stuff like this. The cop testified that even though he BAC was below the limit, in his estimation she was driving under the influence.
I know that story is not a search and seizure example, but I thought it belonged in the 'Crooked Cops' thread.