Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

DUI and Possession charges

Visting CA to get belongings from storage. A patrol car facing the opposite direction of me came to stop at a red light,they flashed a spotlight towards me,u-turned & followed closed behind a short dist, pulling me over for a center tail light being out.Intructed me to put out my cig & asked if I'd been arrested before. Following my answer ''yes'', he

ordered me out of the car & to the curb. I was never asked when I'd been arrested, for my lic.,name,address,DOB, ins. or reg.,never asked for consent to search the borrowed car I'd been driving, my rights never read to me.

Addt'l details explain the rest, none of which beared any influence to anything in any way since the answer to what seems to have been an odd 1st question to be asked, throughout all that followed after.

I question the legitimacy to the manner procedures were followed Starting w/ the cause to spotlight & follow me, w/ the cause of a tail which has nothing to do w/ past history.

Isn't this a bit odd? Does there appear to be foul play in the situation & how it was handled to that point? If so, are the events to follow at all valid? More details can be provided if need be. And, what about the fact that I'm not a CA resident, what possibly is to be expected?


Asked on 11/27/06, 1:11 am

2 Answers from Attorneys
Terry A. Nelson Nelson & Lawless

Re: DUI and Possession charges

The proper question is, 'what should I do now?' Answer: get a good attorney that may be able to use the facts in a supression motion and otherwise defending the charges. Me telling you the search is invalid' does you absolutely no good, even though that may be accurate. What are you going to do, waive a print out of this response in the DA's face? Feel free to contact me if you are serious about handling this, and it is in SoCal.

Read more
Answered on 11/27/06, 1:40 pm
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

Re: DUI and Possession charges

While your account of what happened is a bit odd, nothing leaps out as being improper or illegal. Police are entitled to pull motorists over for equiment violations like the one you describe and can generally order drivers out of the car as part of a routine stop.

Police generally don't have to Mirandize someone who has been pulled over for a traffic violation. Even when they are required to do so, failure to read the detainee his rights won't invalidate the arrest. At most it will prevent the prosecution from later using the defendant's answers to further police questioning (and most evidence derrived from those answers) against him in court. If there is other, independent evidence, that evidence can still be used and can often support a conviction.

With more information I might reach a different conclusion (in particular, information about what happened after you were ordered out of the car might reveal some violation of your rights), but nothing you have said suggests the police acted improperly.

Read more
Answered on 11/27/06, 4:37 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Criminal Law questions and answers in California