Legal Question in Criminal Law in Texas

About the brake light...

My friend and I where driving home last night from the movies, when a police officer stopped us. No biggie, although we had a marijuana pipe in the car, I was not worried because the officer would have no reason to search. When he arrived at my window, after a brief conversation about how i had lost my insurance card but had a copy at my house which was literally three blocks away, the officer asked to search. I told him no, asking why he would want to search. He then told me that due to my brake light being out, he could place me under arrest, which he did, and proceeded to search my car. Is there anything I can do about this or was that actually a legal move on his part?


Asked on 8/13/08, 1:39 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
ERICK PLATTEN LAW OFFICE OF ERICK PLATTEN

Re: About the brake light...

Hello there,

You need to hire an attorney to go and file a motion to supress because the officer did not have the right to search your car.

However, he did have every right to call the drug dog and have the dog sniff around your car to see if it alerted.

If the officer did what you said he did you would have grounds for filing a motion to supress you evidence and arrest.

If you have further questions feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

Erick Platten

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Answered on 8/15/08, 2:12 pm
michael palmer Law Office of Michael Palmer

Re: About the brake light...

Sounds like it may be a bad search. Police may try to justify the search as an inventory search. This is done before they tow your car. I advise you to hire an attorney. He or she can file a motion to suppress if they think it was a bad search.

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Answered on 8/13/08, 2:49 pm


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