What To Do When You Get Pulled Over With Drugs In The Car
The first thing you need to do when you are pulled over by law enforcement with drugs in your car is to know your rights. You have the right to remain silent. If you prefer not to speak, you have a right to, so long as you present your license and registration and otherwise cooperate with the traffic stop. This may not go over well with the officer, but you can also stick to short, one-word answers.
You also do not have to consent to a search. Your best, most direct course of action is to simply say, “Officer, I have nothing to hide, but I don’t consent to any searches.” Law enforcement may try to convince you that they just need to “take a quick look” in your trunk or back seat, but you do not have to consent to a search, which means they’ll need probable cause or a search warrant.
It’s an undeniable fact that most law enforcement officers when initiating a traffic stop are seeking to go beyond the straightforward traffic stop. Are they happy issuing a ticket for speeding or rolling through a stop sign, of course, they are, but what truly brings them joy is finding people who are committing crimes, not merely disobeying traffic laws. Now we don’t recommend driving around with illegal controlled substances in your car, but if you are a drug user or someone who sells drugs, the cold hard truth is that you have to transport them somehow.
First of all, if you are driving with drugs in your car and you are pulled over for a suspected traffic violation it is important to remain calm. Secondly, if the officers ask you if you have drugs in your possession and all they have done is pull you over for violating a traffic law you don’t need to answer their question.
You may ask if you’re free to go at any time. If you’ve done nothing wrong and the officer has not searched your vehicle or has searched your vehicle and turned up empty-handed, ask politely, “Officer, am I being detained or am I free to go?” If they have no reason to detain you, be persistent. “Officer, am I free to go?”
Third, police are usually prone to slant things in their favor. If you are pulled over and you think they may be going after you for something beyond a traffic citation, start recording the interaction with the police with your phone. Often times law enforcement is not forthright about what actually transpires and they create a basis to search someone’s car. I can’t tell you how many times people have come into our office and said that they didn’t give consent to search and that the police did it anyway. Ultimately when I receive the police report the officer claims to have received consent.
Lastly, if the police have somehow found a way to get into your vehicle and have discovered drugs or something else that was illegally possessed you need to call the best criminal defense attorney in Miami. Call Attorney Mark Lefcourt today at (305) 567-1011 to schedule your FREE consultation.
