Legal Question in Traffic Law in Minnesota

Searcing a Car without a warrent

We were recently pulled over at night and the 21 year old driver had been drinking. We were pulled over because someone called us in for speeding or something. The driver passed the sobriety test easily and blew under .07 which is legal to drive and we hadnt done anything wrong. Then the police began to search the car without permission or warrent and found a shotgun fully zipped up in its case barried under a bunch of stuff in the backseat, and it was loaded. So then they checked the passenger if they had been drinking and gave them a minor consumption because they were under age. And charged the driver with having a loaded weapon in a car and they seized the gun and proccesed him and eventually let us go later that night, with our court dates set in December. So the question is. Were the police legal when they searched the car and then searched the passenger even after the driver had done nothing wrong and they had no reason to pull him over in the first place?


Asked on 11/18/08, 1:10 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Maury Beaulier612.240.8005 Minnesota Lawyers

Re: Searcing a Car without a warrent

Certainly, a warrantless search is allowed only under very narrow circumstances. If the officer's reasonable suspicion for the stop was assuaged, there is no basis for a search unless something is in plain view. The search can be challenged, and potentially, any evidence seized suppressed.

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Answered on 11/19/08, 11:25 pm


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