Were my friends legally arrested?

coragryph

The car was pulled over for a valid reason (taillight).

This allows the officers to do a cursory look (or smell) of the car, and ask for ID and check for DUI, etc.

Based on the odor of marijuana, the officers could do a search of the passenger compartment. Based on the suspected DUI, the driver could be arrested.

Nothing you mentioned gives the police justification to attack anyone -- and force could only be used on the DUI driver if he resisted arrest.

As for impounding, if no drugs were found, and another licensed drive was present and available to drive (also not drunk), the I would argue that the impound of the van was improper -- but I'd have to check the specific caselaw to determine how strongly I'd argue that.

Dan S

Legal

The broken tail light was enough cause for the officer to pull the van over. Once the van is stopped then it is subject to a search in Texas, in California the laws are tougher and the officer can only use the "What is in plain sight rule."

The reek of marijuana was enough probably cause for the officer to suspect drug use. Anything that happened after that came out of the tail light incident and the "in plain sight" marijuana.

If the driver was found to be impaired, DWI or DUI then they are guilty of a crime and so will have to go to court. The van was legally impounded and both the men in the situation are in trouble and are in the wrong.

shogun_316

my bet is the police suspected the driver was drunk already and used the taillight as the valid reason. I bet they resisted too. Nothing I know of smells like chronic, except mary jane, so if the police smelled it, someone was smokin it. Give it up, you aint' gonna win in court.

PhoenixRising

NEWS FLASH: MARIJUANA IS STILL ILLEGAL! They smelled it, that's proof enough. The only illegal thing that could have taken place is if they were held for more than 72 hours.

angelbear

No. And I don't think they will win their case either...think about this....let's say there were 2 friends....one smoked cigarettes on the reg. and the other has never smoked cig's....the smoker gives the non-smoker a ride and chooses not to smoke (respecting his friend).....the smoker's car will still wreak of smoke 'cause his friend's senses are more sensitive because he does not smoke....

hope that made sense.

Citicop

Lets review the facts, taking into account that neither of us were there.

1.) There was a valid reason for the police to stop the van (broken taillight).

2.) Once the van was stopped, the odor of Marijuana inside gives the officers the authority (probable cause) to search the vehicle and to expand the stop to investigate a possible crime or crimes.

3.) During this investigation, the driver was found to be impaired by alcohol or drugs, and was arrested.

You haven't given many other details, but let me take a guess at what actually happened, since I 100% GUARENTEE you that you didn't get the whole truth:

As they are making the arrest of the driver and passengers for whatever charges they had, someone got mouthy and resisted arrest and was forcibly subdued, now he is complaining of an "assault" due to his lack of responsibility in the situation.

You got one side of a story... I wonder what the officer's side would say?

hardwoodrods

Well it's hard to tell from your story. Some of the people here will support the police, some will not. Your story sounds like some details are missing, but if the van smelled of marijuana and there was none, it could be they smoked it all. DUI requires a chemical test, so if they are not guilty the test will be negative.

Michael B

Coragryph, I usually don't agree with you, but this time you are right on the money!!!!!

~~Sich regen bringt Segen~~

It does sound a bit ridiculous that they can arrest just for the reason that it smells like pot. That shouldn't be legal unless they actually saw some of it.

SSDD

Yes he can in the Peoples republic of Calfornia. Comrade

Stephen M

I don't know about California, but in Washington, there are officer's who are known as DRE's (Drug Recognition Experts) They go through some intense training for this. They do almost like a field sobriety test like they would do for a drunk driver, but they are able to determine if the person is under the influence of drugs. The courts have ruled that if a DRE can has probable cause to believe that they are under the influence of drugs, that is sufficient for an arrest.

Scent of a controlled substance without the substance in possession, is NOT enough to be arrested. If the police arrested the individuals, they obviously filed charges that were not accurate. Be sure to confront a lawyer or district judge about this, and be reimbursed.

El Scott

The stop was legal. The odor of marijuana allows the officer(s) to search the van. The driver's arrest for DWI is valid (as long as there was probable cause for the DWI arrest) since driving under the influence of marijuana is as illegal as driving under the influence of alcohol.
Since police don't normally assault people I would guess there was some sort of assault on law enforcement officer or resist charges for the others. Not to mention the fact that smoking marijuana is also illegal.
My department's policy is that if the vehicle can not be operated by one of the other occupants (who are apparently stoned-unfit to drive) or some other third party that is readily available then the vehicle is towed.
You left some details out that would help my assessment out (such as what everyone was charged with) but I have a sneaking feeling that this is another case of "I had a friend who...."

onlinedreamer

legal or not it's his word vs the cops word, who do you think will win.

our liberties and freedoms aren't taken away all at once but little by little, all in the name of security and law and order, and that is what is happening in this country. one day we will wake up and wonder what happened and when did the government take control of our lives, but at that point it will be too late.

wrf3k

Your mom was assaulted by 3 police.

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: