Alcohol & Drugs: MIP, MIC, Intoxication Charged with possession and para. in Alabama

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Zclocker

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I will try to be brief and yet detailed. I was driving with my brother in law on the interstate in southern alabama when i was pulled over by an officer in greenville. I was told that i was pulled over due to the fact (1) that my license plate was in my rear window instead of on the bumper (previous to the current plate, my plate was stolen and the bumper was broken in such a way that made attaching a new plate impossible, I explained this to the officer) and (2) the officer said that my license plate number had not been entered into the alabama database (I got the plate over 6 months previous to the stop). He asked for my license, registration, and insurance all of which i provided to him, he went back to his car and checked all of my information and returned to tell me that it was all correct and he was not sure why my license number was not in the "Alabama System" but that sometimes they got behind. He then instructed me to get out of my car, which i did, and to go with him to his cruiser, which i also did. He then proceeded to do a pat down on me, and then further explained his reasonings for pulling me over. He said that he was looking for people trafficing in large amounts of illegal drugs and for large amounts of cash, He said that if I had any small amounts of either that if I would give them to him he would throw them away and we would be on our way. I told him that I had no drugs or any other contraband in my vehicle, he proceeded to ask me the same question at least another 7 times, and every time i answered no. He then went to speak to my brother in law (who was still sitting in the passenger seat of my car, he instructed me to stay by his cruiser so I am not sure what was discussed) He then returned to his cruiser with my brother in law and frisked him, He then stated that he asked my brother in law the same questions as I and that he responded the same as I did. He then asked if he could search my vehicle, which I said no. Then he asked why he couldn't search, and I said that I didnt want them to damage my car (i.e. rip up seats, cut open tires, etc) and that I did not want to spend any more time on the side of the dangerous interstate than I was required to. He then told me that if I did not let him search my vehicle that he was going to call in a K-9 and that they could usually get one there within four hours, He also went on to explain that if I allowed him to search that he would assure me that he would not damage my vehicle in any way, but that if I made him wait for the K-9 that they would damage the vehicle (claws thru the leather, etc...). I then allowed him to search, (the time between the intial no to the search and the allowance of the search was approx. 15 minutes of the officer speaking). During the course of the seach, inside a suitcase in the trunk the officer found a very small amount of marijuana (less than a tenth of an ounce) and a small pipe.

My questions are whether or not you believe this to be an illegal search or something that could be supressed, and if no supression is available what type of outcome someone who has never been arrested before should expect.

I have filed for a court appointed attorney as I do not have the funds to hire one, I have been granted an attorney; however, she will not return my calls and i have never spoken to her. Any help that you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You,
 
I was told that i was pulled over due to the fact (1) that my license plate was in my rear window instead of on the bumper (previous to the current plate, my plate was stolen and the bumper was broken in such a way that made attaching a new plate impossible, I explained this to the officer)
That still did not absolve you of the requirement to properly mount the license plate.

(2) the officer said that my license plate number had not been entered into the alabama database (I got the plate over 6 months previous to the stop).
Very odd ... but, if he ran it and it came back as invalid, that's still good cause for a stop. Was it an Alabama license plate?

My questions are whether or not you believe this to be an illegal search or something that could be supressed, and if no supression is available what type of outcome someone who has never been arrested before should expect.
I can see all sorts of problems with this. In my opinion, consent was NOT freely given. You really need to speak to an attorney about this. However, keep in mind that the officer is likely to say (truthfully) that you gave your consent. The devil will be in the details ... detained even though no citation was apparently being written, threatened with damage to property if a dog were called, threatened with a prolonged detention without cause ... a good attorney should be able to get this tossed. But, AL may be a different world, so it may not be so easy.


- Carl
 
It was an alabama plate.

I have also since been able to speak with my attorney, who will file a motion of supression due to the details of the search and also about the stop in the first place. I have also since that time had the stripped screw holes in my bumper rethreaded and have welded my license plate to them to prevent losing another plate (I also used liquid weld in the screw holes, and super glued the botom of the plate to the plastic on the bumper, may be a problem if i ever move out of this state...)

thank you for your reply carl,
 
It was an alabama plate.

I have also since been able to speak with my attorney, who will file a motion of supression due to the details of the search and also about the stop in the first place.
I don't know that there is much he can do about the stop unless Alabama has no law covering the proper mounting of license plates ... and I doubt even AL permits the display of plates in the rear window). The consent for the search has some problems, in my opinion, but the stop appears good.

I have also since that time had the stripped screw holes in my bumper rethreaded and have welded my license plate to them to prevent losing another plate (I also used liquid weld in the screw holes, and super glued the botom of the plate to the plastic on the bumper, may be a problem if i ever move out of this state...)
I suppose that's one way to do it. I have lost year tabs, but never a whole license plate ... hopefully that never happens!


- Carl
 
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