Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

recently been pulled over because of expired tags in the state of california, that were due the first of july. On the DMV .ca website states that all law enforcements are aware and will not pull over or cite cars having their tags due in july or august due to the renewals of the fee increase and renewal notices havent been mailed out. i havent received the renewal from dmv sate of CA. I was pulled over on July 3rd and arrested the police officer walked up to the car said he pulled me over for bad tags and then ask if i was smoking marjauna because he said he had smelt it from the car, which was bull because there was none in the car to begin with . then he proceeded to search the car and not to my knowledge he had found a narcotic in a backpack. the backpack in the car was used by me and my friend early that day at a concert that i was from back from....i was arrested and felony charge were brought up agaisnt me . My question is was right violated and did they perform a illegal search of my car from the reason he stated i was pulled over for in the first place, expired tags( day overdue ). I know regardless if what they found was not mine in the first place or if it was i was in possesion of it because it was my car. , is this reason to search my car an illegal and violation of my rights. Should a talk to the a public defender or willl this case be dismissed?

please help

Thank you for your time in advance.


Asked on 7/20/11, 2:42 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
James Bates Law Office of James A. Bates

Your attorney needs to file a 1538.5 motion to get the evidence thrown out of court. The judge must decide if it is an illegal detention. If that fails, you need to fight the case on the grounds that you did not have exclusive control of the backpack. The prosecution must prove that you knew the pot was there.

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Answered on 7/20/11, 3:32 pm
Anthony Roach Law Office of Anthony A. Roach

You need an attorney. When you go to the arraignment, there will be a package for your attorney, which will contain a police report. The police report often contains a much different story than the one presented by the defendant.

If you cannot afford an attorney, you need to ask the court to appoint a public defender for you.

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Answered on 7/21/11, 4:36 pm


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