Reaction & Commentary
Has generated some questions of its own I said that if the police pull you over for a traffic violation and asked to search your car you do not have to give consent to the police to search you can simply say sir you do not have permission to search my car a very good
Question I got in response to that example is this what do I do if the police say if you don’t let us search your car we’ll have to get the drug dog what am I supposed to do then well folks the simple fact of the matter is what
The police decide to do or not to do to further their investigation is not within your control what is within your control is simply repeating your original response sir you do not have my permission to search my car if the police say well we’re gonna have
To get the drug dog respond sir you do not have permission to search my car if the police say you’re really gonna make us all wait out here in the hot Sun waiting for the drug dog simply respond sir you do not have permission to search
My car now instead of doing that many people at this point would just give up it’s like oh well they’re gonna get the drug dog they’re gonna say the dog alerted so they’re gonna search my car no matter what I do I might as well give
Up and just sign the consent to search all those things I just said are true except the last thing I might as well give up and sign the consent to search that part is wrong the law and the Constitution limit how and when the police can search you your
Car your bag or your home if during this search the police violate those limits your lawyer can request that the evidence found in violation of the Constitution be thrown out of court that’s called the exclusionary rule evidence illegally obtained in violation of someone’s constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches and
Seizures can be excluded from court but if you throw your hands up and consent to a search you guarantee that any evidence found will be legal you guarantee that it will be able to be used in court so in the example we started with the traffic stop and the
Threat of a drug dog what are some of the limitations the law and the Constitution apply to the police now pay attention this is the important part if you remember nothing else from this video remember this many people don’t know this but the law applies limitations on how long the police can
Detain someone under a variety of circumstances now a detention is different from an arrest first of all when the police arrests you they haul you off to jail but when the police detain you it’s temporary a detention can turn into an arrest but the most common detention is the one
We’re talking about right now and that’s a traffic stop you are detained when the officer pulls you over and you are then free to go when he gives you your speeding ticket so what are the limits on how long the police can detain someone well in the
Case of a traffic stop the Supreme Court of the United States has said that the police can only detain a motorist for as long as is reasonably necessary to issue the citation if they detain you longer than that the detention is now in violation of the Constitution Louisiana
Has even codified this rule into its own laws Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure article to 15.1 paragraph D as in Delta states during the detention of an alleged violator of any provision of the motor vehicle laws of this state an officer may not detain a motorist for a period
Of time longer than is reasonably necessary to complete the investigation of the violation and issuance of a citation for the violation so let me repeat that in plain language during a detention for a traffic ticket an officer may not detain a motorist longer than is reasonably necessary to issue
The ticket so yes the police might get a drug dog and yes they might say that that drug dog alerted and they might search your car as a result but if that process of getting the drug dog and having him do an open-air sniff get bringing the drug dog from somewhere
Else to the scene if that process takes longer then would have been reasonably necessary for the officer to just give you the traffic ticket then the detention and the subsequent search are illegal and any evidence found can be excluded from court so not only do you
Want to refuse consent to the search but you also want to make it clear that you do not agree to be detained longer than is reasonably necessary for the issuance of the traffic tickets so clearly you would not want to say something like go ahead and get the drug dog I don’t mind
I’ll wait here all day a statement like that could be held to imply that you’re waiving your rights under the Constitution and under Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure article 2 15.1 that’s why earlier I recommended that you simply repeat that you do not give consent to a search of your vehicle if
The officer asks whether you mind waiting for the drug dog you should again simply repeat that you do not give consent to a search of your vehicle really the only other statement that I would recommend is that you should ask repeatedly and periodically if you’re free to go am I free to go
Are we done am I free to go this makes it clear that you are not remaining of your own free will that you are not consenting to be held longer than is reasonably necessary to issue the ticket and that the officer is detaining you okay that’s important because his actions in
Doing so can then be reviewed for reasonableness under the laws and the Constitution to determine if he violated your rights by detaining you for an excessive period of time now whether a search is legal or illegal depends upon the facts of every case every case is different but when you consent to a
Search you guarantee that any evidence found will have been found legally you guarantee that it will be able to be used as evidence in a criminal trial and you guarantee that a court will be able to use it as a basis for a finding of guilt
If you refuse to give consent to a search you give your lawyer an opportunity to challenge the legality of the search on your behalf and possibly obtain a dismissal I’m Kirk pitoni and I’ve been defending criminal cases for over 30 years if you need help call me our contact
Information can be found at Kirk pitoni comm or on facebook at pitoni and pitoni criminal defense lawyers in Lafayette Louisiana
