Inventory search gets two A felonies

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imhit23
Concerned Citizen

Joined: 17 Sep 2007
Posts: 3

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:19 am Post subject: Inventory search gets two A felonies

Here's my story and would love any comments or suggestions.
On my way home, after visiting a friend I was pulled over and ordered out of my vehicle. I politely asked the cop what I had done and he informed me that my license plate was invalid, then asked me for my license and registration. I handed him the valid registration and got of the car and was lead to the rear of my vehicle by another cop that patted me down and began to question me. I looked up and noticed the first cop getting in my vehicle. I louldly stated "GET OUT OF MY CAR,YOU DON'T HAVE A WARRANT" and was told my car was getting towed due to fact that my plate doesn't match so they had to inventory the car. During the pat down he found $1700 cash in my pockets and started calling me a drug dealer. The other cop that was searching my car came and threw a baggie with 16 grams he said was meth on the trunk lid and said "HERE YOU GO METH DEALER, YOU'RE HIT." He then told me to take him where I purchased the meth and that if he could get in the house, I would be free to go. I laughed and said "NICE TRY, BUT I'M NOT ADMITTING GUILT BECAUSE I'M INNOCENT AND I ALREADY TOLD YOU I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IT WAS OR WHERE IT CAME FROM. He said "OKAY METH DEALER, HAVE IT YOUR WAY" I was charged with an A felony dealing in methamphetamine and A felony possesion of methamphetamine and taken to jail. Almost a year has passed since that night. They sold my car at auction and kept my $1700 which I had legally earned. I'm on my 2nd attorney and $20,000 poorer. My first attorney's motion of suppression was denied, she never emphased the fact that I gave the cop a valid registration and had a valid driver's license and a perfect driving record so the car should'nt have been towed or searched. I've learned so much from this site and wouldn't be in this predicament if I'd have found Barry's DVD before this incident. I'm frequently followed by police. I've been pulled over twice and searched with K-9. Both times they made the dog false alert (they bounced the ball against my car and the dog chased it, of course)Both searches yielded nothing. I used to respect law enforcement and believed in the justice system. I was'nt prepared for the level of corrupt officals or cops I've found. Thanks to my new police scanner the things I hear police do to people on a daily basis are unbelievable. I've never been in trouble with the law before, I've never hurt anyone or been violent in anyway. I'm facing 60 years if convicted. The only truth I've heard so far was from the cop that said "YOU'RE HIT".

narcdet
Civil Libertarian

Joined: 21 Aug 2007
Posts: 100

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 11:31 pm Post subject:

Ok, let's start from the top. They said your license plate did not match your car. Is that true? If the plate on your car came back to a different vehicle then they had a valid reason to pull you over. Secondly, if they chose to arrest you for unlawful use of a license plate..i.e. having the wrong plate on the car, then they were also well within the law to search you and search and inventory your vehicle. If in fact you had a baggie with 16 grams of meth in it in your car then it is no surprise that your vehicle and money was seized..16 grams of meth easily falls into the seizure weight. I'm not sure what it is you are wanting to hear from the forum...if you really did not know the meth was in the car and you think someone else left it in the car or something you will have zero luck with your charges unless whoever left it in the car is willing to come forward and claim it.

douchefun
Antiprohibitionist

Joined: 08 Sep 2007
Posts: 78

Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 9:36 am Post subject:

I don't like narcdet wasted

but I would bet a lot that your going to get convicted. frown

You should disappear. Silenced

WildChild
NGB Staff

Joined: 14 Sep 2007
Posts: 389

Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 9:41 am Post subject:

douchefun wrote:

I don't like narcdet wasted

Come on now, don't say that! He's doing the right thing by not giving him false hope.

Be sure to let someone know your log in information on this website, so in case you do get locked up, they can come and update us.

Sorry for the bad luck. 60 years ain't no joke. frown

douchefun
Antiprohibitionist

Joined: 08 Sep 2007
Posts: 78

Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 9:46 am Post subject:

I don't think narcdet was giving him false hope.

WildChild
NGB Staff

Joined: 14 Sep 2007
Posts: 389

Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 10:07 am Post subject:

My point exactly. wink

narcdet
Civil Libertarian

Joined: 21 Aug 2007
Posts: 100

Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 6:47 pm Post subject:

I wasn't trying to be a dick to him. I just gave him the best info I could from the law's perspective with the info he provided. Many people think, and say, "the cops searched me illegally" or "they had no reason to stop me" when in fact the police probably had multiple legally valid reasons to stop or search the person. As Barry says, it is not hard for an officer to find a valid reason to pull you over or to get out with you. Cops are used to being called liars to their faces and they are used to catching people red-handed and being told "that's not mine" or "I didn't do it". For that very reason any good cop knows the law and usually builds a decent case. Obviously there are cops that lie etc. but to be honest that is a very small percentage. Why, you ask? Because in all honestly it is usually downright easy to build a good drug case using valid reasonable suspicion and probable cause. It is harder to lie a case into existence than to just build a good case to begin with.

imhit23
Concerned Citizen

Joined: 17 Sep 2007
Posts: 3

Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 11:18 pm Post subject:

I'm not denying the fact they had a right to pull me over. No, the plate didn't match but the registration was VALID. This valid registration shows that a valid license plate for the vehicle exists. It was mistakedly put on the wrong vehicle or possibly switched without the owners knowledge. Plates for two cars were bought on the same day, the license plate numbers were one digit apart. Come on, the cops didn't give a f*** about the license plates. Narcdetect, you don't understand ??? I don't understand why you asked if I was getting arrested for driving with an invalid license plate. Driving with an invalid plate is only a ticketable infraction, the same as a seat belt ticket. I should have been issued a ticket, that's it....PERIOD! I remember getting pulled over not too long ago as a passenger in my grandparents car. They were pulled over because my grandfather forgot to put the renewal sticker on the license plate. He wasn't ordered out of his vehicle at gun point. He didn't have ALL his personal property gone thru either. Valid plate or not I still had a privacy interest in the vehicle i was legally driving with the owners permission. INVENTORY SEARCHES ARE SUPPOSED TO BE FOR INVENTORY PURPOSES ONLY. They are not to be used as a way to do a narcotics investigation search without a warrant. Remember the 4th Amendment? Oh, and by the way, the bag really wasn't mine, I really had no knowledge of it. The car wasn't legally mine either, I was driving it with my friend's permission. If the bag belonged to me, they would have never found it, trust me. I'm not some stupid, strung out meth junkie ready to sign some bullshit guilty plea to something I didn't do. Oh, one other thing I lefted out. Private testing of the 16 grams found it only contained about a gram of meth, the rest was a cutting agent. I used to respect law enforcement, now I fear it. A bunch of egotistical idiots with way too much power can set one back a bit as I'm finding out. Sorry everyone for the long post... Oh, Barry if you read this I want to let you know I think you're the greatest. I can't wait for the new DVD. Keep up the good work... NarcDect you may find the following cases regarding inventory searches helpful...Arkansas v. Sullivan, South Dakota v. Opperman, and Bell v. Indiana. Remember, as US citizens we have a right to privacy and we are also supposed to be innocent till proven guilty.

narcdet
Civil Libertarian

Joined: 21 Aug 2007
Posts: 100

Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 9:46 am Post subject:

Well, let's see. Actually you can be arrested for a misdemeanor offense, even not wearing a seatbelt or having the wrong license plate on the car. It is true that those offenses USUALLY just result in being cited, but you can be arrested.

Also, as a cop I would be very suspicious of someone having a different plate on the car. Why? Because I have found that people put other plates on the car when they don't want to register the vehicle or when their other plates got taken for them dropping insurance or because the car they are driving is stolen etc. I understand that none of the above was the case in your situation but I can understand why the cops would be on the alert at your car having an improper plate.

Also, since the plate was not legally supposed to be on the vehicle you were driving the cops had every right to tow it if they so chose...hence the follow-on inventory search. And yes, of course an inventory search is supposed to be just for inventory of the contents of the vehicle but that does not mean the cop can't charge you with an illegal item found during that inventory...duh

From the new info you gave the only defense I can see for you is that the car really was not yours...however, the courts usually don't buy that as a means of getting out of a criminal charge as long as you were in control of the vehicle at the time.

By the way, I don't need a lesson on searches, or inventory of a vehicle either. Been there, done that, understand the law. The reality of the situation is that you need to pick better people to borrow cars from.

douchefun
Antiprohibitionist

Joined: 08 Sep 2007
Posts: 78

Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 9:54 am Post subject:

Barrowing a car from the wrong friend is worth 60 years? disgusted

narcdet
Civil Libertarian

Joined: 21 Aug 2007
Posts: 100

Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 9:58 am Post subject:

No, his main problem is having a "friend" that will let him do 60 years for shit that they know is not his. As the saying goes..with friends like that..

douchefun
Antiprohibitionist

Joined: 08 Sep 2007
Posts: 78

Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 10:10 am Post subject:

Oh no! You trusted someone! Bad imhit23! 60 years for you! That will learn you. After 60 years if you haven't killed yourself, been killed by someone else, gotten in a gang in an attempt to survive, gone insaine and yelled at a police officer to his face, and hundreds of other things... Then I will expect you to go back and be a well functioning part of society. Dancing

toddwj86
Antiprohibitionist

Joined: 17 Sep 2007
Posts: 28

Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 10:12 am Post subject:

NarcDet,

How can you sleep at night taking people to jail for non-violent crimes that only re-inforces the persons already negative bias about the law?

narcdet
Civil Libertarian

Joined: 21 Aug 2007
Posts: 100

Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 10:49 am Post subject:

toddwj86...Good question. In fact, my conscience does bother me, which is why I ended up on this forum and also talking with Barry on the phone. I do think the war on drugs has failed and has caused much more harm than it has ever prevented. I am currently a narcotics detective but I plan to transfer either back to patrol or possibly to persons crimes..i.e. homicide detective etc. as soon as I can. At least that way I can work on real crime.

However, I would like to make a small point. There is REAL CRIME associated with illegal drugs. I know that the fact that the drugs are illegal is what causes the other associated crimes but at the present time there are plenty of shootings, beatings, armed robberies etc. over drugs. I do investigate drugs, but I also do actually get real criminals off the street. Yes, they are drug dealers, and if drugs were legalized tomorrow they would lose their business. However, that would not cause them to become fine upstanding citizens. They would simply switch to some other illegal activity. I know, better than many of you probably, that not all drug dealers commit violent crimes. But I see a good number that do, and I do work hard at getting them off the street because drugs or no drugs, those people are harmful to society.

Also, I think some of you here misconstrue my posts. I do not try to be a dick when I answer another's post. I do try to tell them what the law side of the house thinks of their particular situation. They post their particular predicament and I give the law enforcement opinion of what they posted. This can actually be pretty valuable information because many times it is hard for someone to get info on their case. It can also be valuable as a learning tool for future use.

toddwj86
Antiprohibitionist

Joined: 17 Sep 2007
Posts: 28

Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 11:07 am Post subject:

I agree with you 100% narcdet. There are many violent crimes that go hand in hand and are associated with drugs, because of drugs illegality.

Just listen to any rap song by Rick Ross or Lil Wayne. Two lines from each stand out in my mind;

LW; "He actin like dis cutter (gun) won't split im"

RICK ROSS: "You don't wanna be da one I blast punk"

And thank you for actually answering my question, which I didn't pose trying to be a dick, but as an honest question. I appreciate that.

This is another reason why drugs should be legalized, because the people who want them, often have to go places that are rather "shady." I myself have been robbed at gun point over marijuana and jumped before as well.

I commend your ability to admit that these convictions rest heavily on your mind and soul. Let us work to make change.

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