Legal Question in Criminal Law in Alabama

Illegal Possession of Prescription Meds

A friend of mine was on his way home from Huntsville and became sleepy. He pulled over on the interstate to rest for a few minutes. A law enforcement officer pulled up behind him and asked for his license. He gave the officer all of his vehicle documents. The officer asked him to get out of his car and placed him in handcuffs. He told my friend he was not under arrest, but he had to make sure my friend had not been involved in some recent burglaries to convenience stores at the last exit. He placed my friend in the backseat of the police car and commenced a search of his vehicle. He never asked for consent to search, nor did he explain to him that he had any authority to search the vehicle. He did not even tell him he was searching the vehicle. During the search, the officer found 10 Xanax pills out of the prescription bottle. The pills belong to his mother. He was arrested for felony possesion of prescription drugs, as well as VPL for having unopened alcohol in a dry county. My friend has been in prison for possession of a controlled substance. He is on longer on probation or anything. If convicted, he could go to prison for a long time. Was the search legal, and if so, what would you suggest my friend to do?


Asked on 5/16/04, 3:51 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Walter Blocker Walter l. Blocker, III P.C.

Re: Illegal Possession of Prescription Meds

i would suggest that your friend hire an attorney asap. whether the search was constitutional or not depends on all of the facts surrounding the stop and what the police officer knew when the "stop" was made and conversation took place. from your facts the search should be questioned for the proper probable cause. the "arrest" should also be questioned for the same. each case turns on its own facts and no two cases have the identical facts. as a general rule an officer can investigate a stopped vehicle on the highway without any probable cause, but any other action such as an asking the driver out of the car, the arrest and possibly the search would require reasonable suspicion or probable cause. if the arrest was a good arrest, then the search of the car would probably be an "inventory" not a search. if the arrest was not a good arrest then other questions should be asked. good luck

Read more
Answered on 5/17/04, 9:44 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Criminal Law questions and answers in Alabama