Legal Question in Traffic Law in California

i was recently stopped for a traffic violation (trailer ball blocking license plate)

after handing him my C.D.L the officer said step out of the car our dog told us that you have drugs in the vehicle large 4 door truck door Approx.3FT off the ground

question is can a police officer legally make you get out of your truck on a traffic stop so he can put a so called drug sniffing dog in truck then remove the dog and proceed to rip your truck apart until they find or place drugs in your truck what can make this a legal search or illegal


Asked on 3/30/13, 5:28 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Jacob Kiani Law Office of Jacob I. Kiani

Yes, if the police officer had probable cause to search in that a properly trained dog signaled there were drugs in the car as they walked up to the car. What the police officer cannot do is just search the truck during a routine traffic stop because he has a suspicion there are drugs in the car.

However, the officer will probably just say that when he came up to the car, he asked you if he could search the car and you said yes (even though that's not true from what you've said) in which case he would have "consent" for the search. In that case, he wouldn't even need probable cause to search.

I know it's not fair, but when you concentrate a lot of power in one individual at a given time, there's a lot of room for abuse. Some people say that when a police officer comes up to your car during a traffic stop, you should take out your cell phone camera and start filming!

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Answered on 3/30/13, 5:44 pm
Zadik Shapiro Law Offices of C. Zadik Shapiro

Mr Kiani is right. The Supreme Court earlier this year upheld most dog searches of vehicles. For more information see my Feb. 19, 2013 blog entry: http://takingthefifth-acriminallawblog.com

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Answered on 3/30/13, 8:21 pm


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