Probable Cause?? Invalid/Illegal Arrest
My son and his friend had both been drinking alcohol throughout the evening,when they decided to go home.They both live in the same apartment complex.They were using my son's car, however the friend was driving.On the way home, his friend hit a fence knocking it over, and then left the scene.
The homeowner,called in and reported the license plate to the police,and since the veh is registered to my son with his current home address.They police showed up approx. an hour+ later.When they arrived they asked my son to step outside,had him go over to his car which was now parked in the apartments parking lot.When they questioned him as to his guilt,he advised them that he had been drinking,but he had not been driving, nor did he hit the fence,and then refused to volunteer his friends information. They arrested my son for MISD Hit and Run and for DUI and had him submit to a breathlizer 1.4.
I'm a little puzzled regarding the ARREST itself-and was hoping someone could answer my questions.
The fence victim, identified the car, not the driver and was not requested to identify my son prior to his arrest, or to complete a citizen's arrest.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Probable Cause?? Invalid/Illegal Arrest
There are a number of issues to explore. What was the manner in which the police contacted your son? Was he free to go when they questioned him? The answer on PC to arrest is no, they probably do not have PC to arrest your son. So what does that mean? It means that some evidence like possibly the BAC result, and any other statements made could get suppressed. On the other hand, the State still can go to trial and leave it up to a jury to decide. Even if a judge ruled that the BAC came in, that still doesn't mean that he was driving. So the PC issue is not that significant unless he said something incriminating regarding driving the vehicle.
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