Legal Question in Criminal Law in Washington

Search and Seizure

A friend of mine got pulled over for not turning on blinker 100 feet before stop sign, there was a girl passenger that apparantly had a traffic warrant, they handcuffed her and put her in the police car, then they told my friend to get out of the car and asked him if they could search the car, he told them no (he was totally legal, license and insuranse) they made him get out of the car anyway and proceeded to tear the car apart. In their search they found a couple of items that led them to believe he was manufacturing meth.So they arrested him and charged him with manufacturing. Was that a legal search and if not what can be done?


Asked on 8/15/01, 5:57 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Jessie M. Archibald Attorney at Law

Re: Search and Seizure

While you have given facts from your friend's side of the story that seem to indicate the search may have been illegal, the officer's report will often establish probable cause for the search, but not always. So the answer to your question is that you need to have an attorney look at the police report and then after fully assessing the situation, the attorney will advise you whether he/she can bring a motion to suppress the evidence. Attorneys on the internet cannot give people legal advice when the don't have all of the information; we could get in trouble for doing that, so this web site is great for answering general questions like, "What is the maximum punishment for this crime?" The answer to that doesn't require or create an attorney/client relationship. The bottom line is you need to talk with an attorney who can evaluate the case once all relevant facts are available.

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Answered on 8/15/01, 1:53 pm


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