Can the Police Search My Car Without a Warrant?
Whoop whoop. You’ve just been pulled over by a cop. The red and blue flashing lights are disorienting—to put it mildly. As if that wasn’t bad enough, you just know the people in every passing car are staring at you. Some may even be filming you looking like a crook on the side of the road.
Think quick: With all these distractions, can you recall your rights? I don’t mean whether you’ll be able to talk your way out of a ticket. I’m referring to what could turn into a much more serious brush with the law. Specifically, do you know your rights should the police want to search your car?
The truth is, it's your responsibility to understand your rights regarding vehicle searches before you're ever in this situation. No amount of Google searching after the search will do you any good. In many other instances, your Fourth Amendment rights protect you from unreasonable search and seizure. This means the police cannot rummage through your house and other property without a search warrant most of the time. However, there are exceptions to this Constitutional right, including vehicle searches in California.
Although authorities do not typically need a warrant to search your car when they pull you over, they still need to satisfy certain legal standards. Most vehicle searches fall into three categories: probable cause, consent, and inventory searches. Understanding each type matters. Importantly, skilled attorneys like the Hartmann Law Firm team of experts can seek to get evidence thrown out of court when police overstep their bounds.
Probable Cause Searches
The cop who pulled you over can search your car following a traffic stop if they have probable cause to believe you committed a crime. Probable cause is a legal standard based on a reasonable belief you’ve done something illegal. But it must be based on more than a vague suspicion. For example, the officer may see, hear, or smell something in and around your car. They may have circumstantial evidence such as seeing a driver speed away after a bank robbery. They may also use their expertise and information gathered in an investigation as probable cause to search a vehicle.
Probable cause searches often uncover significant evidence used against defendants. Even so, skilled lawyers have options to fight such material before it is ever heard in court. Quite often I challenge the legitimacy of probable cause, as officers can exceed their legal authority by conducting searches without a reasonable basis to suspect a crime has occurred.
Case in point: in People v. Hall, a vehicle search found a loaded handgun. The probable cause search was based on a small baggie of marijuana sitting in plain sight within the vehicle. But the marijuana was legal in California and stored properly in a closed bag. It should not have been used as probable cause to search the vehicle. The search results were ultimately thrown out by an appeals court.
Consent Searches
If an officer pulls you over and wants to search your car, they may recognize they don’t have probable cause. In that case, they may ask permission for the search. I advise my clients to never consent to a vehicle search. Just as you should never speak to the police without your lawyer present, consenting to a vehicle search will never help you.
Of course, this may feel unnatural, especially if you know you haven’t committed a crime and don’t have anything illegal in your car. Even so, your top priority should be protecting your rights and avoiding situations where a passenger might accidentally leave something in your car, landing you in trouble.
Evidence recovered in such consent searches can be challenged in court. One reason may concern something you neither own nor control. Consent searches can also be challenged when the search exceeds the scope of consent. In People v. Cantor, the court threw out evidence of cocaine found during a search because police received consent for a “real quick” search then proceeded to examine every inch of the car, even unscrewing equipment in the trunk.
Inventory Searches
Sometimes, police impound cars—and it doesn’t have to be crime-related. If a car is blocking traffic or seems abandoned, the police will have it towed so others can get where they are going. When police impound a vehicle, it is a common practice to perform an inventory search to determine its contents.
On the face of it, an inventory search has positives. It establishes what’s in the vehicle, so the owner knows if anything is missing when they get it back. It also protects owners from evidence being planted while stored at a police station or a third-party impound lot. But like any other vehicle search, contraband and evidence of crimes could be found by the officers.
One key reason inventory searches can be challenged in court is if they fail to follow a consistent routine applied to every car. The Supreme Court ruled in Florida v. Wells that inventory searches cannot be a “ruse for a general rummaging in order to discover incriminating evidence.”
This is exactly what the Supreme Court decided police had done in United States v. Mark Patrick Johnson. In this case, the court threw out the evidence found during the inventory search because the vehicle impound and subsequent search were based on officers’ suspicions about Mr. Johnson.
Know Your Rights
Although your car doesn’t enjoy the same Fourth Amendment protections as your house, police officers still must meet certain standards to search it. As discussed, it’s your responsibility to know your rights, including the right to refuse a search when consent is requested.
You also should have the best possible legal representation with an expert team experienced in challenging improper searches. To put yourself in the best position, contact me before you face a vehicle search. You’ll find future vehicle stops a little less stressful than those you’ve experienced in the past.