Many drug-related charges involve traffic stops. During the stop, the officer will be looking for any evidence of any additional crimes, including drug offenses. Drug paraphernalia in plain view, the smell of used drugs (particularly burnt marijuana), or signs of intoxication or drug use by the driver or passengers will all be used to further an investigation and an eventual request to search the vehicle.
If the request to consent to search is denied, the officer can threaten (bluffing or not) that K-9 unit is available and the dog will discover the contraband regardless. If consent is not reached at this point, the officer may be able to proceed with a search if he smells marijuana. He can also hold the suspect for a reasonable amount of time for K-9 unit to arrive.
There are many ways in which the officer can search the vehicle, with or without consent. So where does this put us…Check the car before you drive it!
When the request to search the vehicle is made, the first thought that goes through any suspect’s head is, “Is there anything in this car that I wouldn’t want the officer to see?” If the car does not belong to the suspect, he will often think that there is nothing to worry about because he is not aware of anything illegal in the vehicle. At this point, the suspect consents to the search.
Then, to the suspect’s surprise, drugs or drug paraphernalia is discovered. (Or as a prosecutor would say “surprise”). In this case, we have an innocent suspect who is caught holding the bag. For cases like these, they are most likely going to be taken to trial, because what prosecutor is going to believe the “it wasn’t mine” defense?
I write this because a number of cases have come into my office where someone has been driving a car that does not belong to them, they consented to search and were surprised to find marijuana or marijuana paraphernalia left in the car. What makes it worse is when these items have been found right under the driver’s seat. All of this could be avoided if prior to driving the car, the suspect (now defendant) would have checked the seat or asked the owner to remove any contraband.
So please, when you know that your friends use marijuana, just check the car real quick before you drive down to the gas station to buy some more beer.