Do I Have To Let the Police Search My Vehicle?

While driving down the road your vehicle is pulled over for a minor traffic offense. The police officer asks for your license and registration and takes it back to his police vehicle to run it through the system. The officer comes back and informs you that he is giving you a speeding ticket for going 15 miles over the posted speed limit. He also asks if you would consent to having him search through your vehicle. Do you have to consent to the search? The answer is no. If you don't consent, will the police officer be able to search the vehicle anyway? The answer depends upon whether the police officer has a reasonable belief that the vehicle contains illegal contraband.

Let's first discuss where the police officer can search without your consent. If the police officer possesses a reasonable belief that the driver or passenger is dangerous and may gain immediate control of weapons, the police officer has the right to conduct a search of be vehicle's passenger compartment (glove compartment), even without a search warrant or consent. However, without this reasonable suspicion, the police officer is not authorized to conduct a search of the glove compartment without the consent of the owner of the vehicle. Regarding other areas of the vehicle, in order to conduct a warrantless search without the consent of the owner, the police officer must have probable cause to believe that contraband exists in the vehicle. Probable cause can arise from a variety of different sources. The smell of marijuana emanating from the vehicle may give the police officer probable cause to search the vehicle for marijuana. A drug pipe in plain sight, may not only allow the police officer to seize the pipe, but allow him to search the entire vehicle for drugs. Additionally, a drug detection dog, which conducts a sniff test around the vehicle and displays positive signs for the existence of drugs may provide the officer with probable cause to believe that the vehicle contains illegal contraband. A failure to give consent to a search does not give the police officer probable cause to believe the vehicle contains contraband, as it is the right of the vehicle’s owner to refuse consent. Without evidence that the vehicle contains contraband, the police officer is not authorized, absent the owner's consent, to search the vehicle.

The bottom line is that if, for some reason, you believe your vehicle may contain illegal contraband, you have the right not to consent to a search. By consenting to a search, you leave your defense attorney with very little room to work with when contraband is discovered in the vehicle. Without consent, your defense attorney can attack whether the police officer had probable cause to believe that the vehicle contained contraband, and seek to suppress from the evidence items seized in the search. For more information on typical charges brought in Arizona, including potential punishments, and possible defense strategies, please visit my web site at www.win-law.com.