A police officer cannot search a person’s car just because they feel like it. In fact, they can only search a vehicle if they have the owner’s permission, they have probable cause, or they have a warrant for the search. Most searches come as a result of permission or of probable cause. If anything is found in the vehicle, the person can be arrested and will want to contact a criminal defense lawyer in Waxahachie, TX for help.
A person should never give permission to have their vehicle searched, even if they’re confident the police will not find anything in the vehicle. This means the officer needs to have probable cause to search the vehicle. Probable cause occurs when a reasonable person, given the events leading to that point, might believe the person is committing a crime, has already committed a crime or, in some case, may be about to commit a crime. With drugs in the vehicle, this means the officer would be able to reasonably conclude that a person has drugs in the vehicle based on how the person is acting, their previous actions, and how they respond to the officer.
The officer needs to be able to show they had probable cause before they searched the vehicle. If the person has already been arrested for something else and they are towing the vehicle, they have the ability to search it. If, however, the person does not give them permission to search the vehicle and they do not have any reason to believe the person has drugs in the vehicle, they do not have probable cause to search it prior to an arrest. This means any evidence gained from the search can be excluded from the evidence against the person, which may result in the charges being dismissed.
It can be difficult to prove the officer did not have probable cause to search the vehicle or that they did not have permission to search it. Those who have been arrested after their vehicle was searched will want to contact a criminal defense lawyer in Waxahachie, TX who is able to thoroughly investigate the case and find evidence to prove that the officer did not have the ability to search the vehicle. For more information on this, be sure to visit the website for Mallios & Associates PC at mallioslaw.com now.
