Flutterby™! : Supreme Court guts 4th 2008-04-24 13:26:16.893662+00

Supreme Court guts 4th

2008-04-24 13:26:16.893662+00 by Dan Lyke 3 comments

David Lee Moore was stopped by Portsmouth, Virginia, officers five years ago for driving his vehicle on a suspended license. Under state law in such incidents, only a summons is to be issued and the motorist is to be allowed to go. Instead, detectives detained Moore for almost an hour, arrested him, then searched him and found cocaine.

At trial, Moore's lawyers tried to suppress the evidence, but the state judge allowed it, even though the court noted the arrest violated state law. A police detective, asked why the man was arrested, replied, "Just our prerogative."

next thing you know they will see a tail light out and they will stop you and take away your children...

Just to clarify, in most states, a traffic ticket is officially referred to as a summons. A summons can be used in lieu of physical arrest. You're basically still arrested, however you don't have to go to jail and post bail if the police reasonably believe that you will appear in court.

If during this time there is something that appears to warrant further investigation, then the police have the option of arresting your for any traffic violation. Subsequent to this arrest is a search of your person and your immediate area (car if you're in one) and seizure of any evidence related to a crime.

They can search you, your passenger area, your glove box, your center console, but they need a warrant to investigate areas beyond your reach or throw, for instance they can't search the closed in truck bed of your truck with a solid back window, but if there's an open sliding window where you could have thrown something after being stopped, there's no need for a warrant. They can search the back seat of your car, but not your trunk.

thank you, ziffle, i was hoping i could count on you. i had seen dan's spotlight on the supreme court guts 4th admendment, but didn't have time to look at comments. when i came back and read it, i hoped that you had responded. you did not let me down. thank you for the chuckle after a rotten class of 8th graders .