My friend was arrested yesterday...?

wizjp

(1) Wrong
(2) She was arrested; a search is probable cause during arrest.
(3) Of course
(4) depends on where, her record, and the DA. Probably some jail time
(5) Hire a good lawyer and pray.

hollywood34731

Private property or not, police still have jurisdiction.
They cannot search you without probable cause but they must have had PC based on the shoplifting thing...there seems to be something you're leaving out of the story here.
Yes, she can be charged with possession of an illegal substance even if the cop was looking for something else.
The sentencing terms are going to be based on the local laws of your area.
If she wants to fight it, she needs to either hire a lawyer or talk to the public defender.

hillnumber12

She needs a lawyer................

hmdmg

First, if they suspected her of shoplifting, they had to wait til she made it out of the store and into the parking lot before they could stop her, as long as you are still in the store with the items ....it's not shoplifting. So, yeah, they had every right to search her person!

Second, cops have jurisdiction pretty much where ever they are directed...if the mall called them, again, they are well within legal right.

Third, yes, they can collar you for illegal substances if even that wasn't their original intent. Think about this...a cop pulls you over for speeding...you stop...you smell like alcohol...he pulls you out of the car and searches you and finds illegal substances....he collars you! No way around it...illegal is illegal.

Now min and max sentencing is hard for me to say...it depends on her criminal history, if she had it with the intent to sale it, her support group in the community and state law..would need more information to answer that.

Sure there is, cooperate and plea out, tell them where she got the drugs, agree to community service and a drug program...if this is her first offense, she just needs a good attorney and some common sense.

Hope this helps!

Lisa S

First of all I thought that parking lots were private property and cops had no jurisdiction on them?

Nope...they are private property, but the mall owners allow them jurisdiction.

Can a cop search you without probable cause?

If the mananger thought she was shop lifting, that IS probable cause.

If he suspected her of shoplifting, can she get charged for having something on her that they weren't looking for?

Of course.. Possession is still illegal...and 15 pills could be considered dealer quantity.

Her bail was set at $10,000 last night. What are the minimum and maximum sentencing terms for this offense?

That depends on the state.

Is there any way she could get out of this?
With a decent lawyer...maybe...but she's no longer a minor so the rulles change.

Good luck to her.

Snowboard Zombie

First - get a lawyer.

Second...what did they suspect her of shoplifting? You cant be searched unreasonably. IE: If they suspected her of stealing a TV, they cant search her pockets.

E is a tricky drug to get busted with. It has all sorts of problems. I'm sure they will nail her for distribuation...and when they test the pills they may contain heroin, meth, or cocain. All additional charges.

But being that she is only 19, the chances are if she gets at least a decent attorney she will probably only face drug awarness classes, fines and probation.

$10,000 seems kind of high for a 19 year old with a few pills. Has she had any prior convictions?

MR2002626

She's screwed. And I'm sure she wasn't shoplifting, they never are right. Totally innocent she was. Hard to believe that when she's packing 15 e tabs. She's not getting out of anythiing.

Atavacron

1. Cops have jurisdiction in parking lots. LOL for thinking they don't. Seriously. Besides, even if the didn't normally, they were called there by the owner.

2. No. But in this case the probable cause was the shoplifting allegation. He had to search to see whether or not she was in possession of stolen items.

3. Of course she can get charged for something they weren't looking for. "Gee your honor, this shouldn't count because he was only looking for the pot I had in my car. He wasn't looking for the dead body in my trunk, so I should get a pass."

See how dumb that sounds? Same principle.

4. Depends on how much she had. With her bail it sounds like she had enough for "intent to distribute." So that's some good time.

5. Very unlikely.

fangtaiyang

Police have jurisdiction on both private and public property. Suspicion of shoplifting is probable cause, and if the police were called by either a store or mall security, they had sufficient cause to search her. Yes, she can be charged with drug possession, even though the search was for shoplifted items. She may be able to slip out of the charges with a very good attorney, but that will be quite costly. She will most likely be given a plea agreement that will involve probation and perhaps a small fine

hypergurl

First time offender in California could get up to one year.

Rachie

she needs to get a lawyer. and she needs to know that if cops are asking her questions she needs to not say anything. she also needs to know that cops are legally allowed to tell her lies, such as she will get a lesser punnishment if she admits to the crime now or to confess if she has anything else because of the same reason... ect. controlled substances aren't ever a little thing when your dealing with the law and she should take no chances.

daria

The police have executed the arrest correctly as previous answers have stated. She cannot get out of this unless she has a good lawyer.

Debbie C

well i live in northern Ireland, and they did have a reason for searching her, they thought she was shoplifting, and the found the pills.

my friend was caught with 100 es, the police searched him because he was climbing over a wall. he was under house arrest for about 6 months. he was charged with intent to supply class A drugs. he was looking at about 12 mts, the maximum penalty is 14 years.
he got away with a Â£500 fine

if your friend convinces the police that it was all personal use then that will work in her advantage, i don't know how hard you guys are on drugs in america, but that's how it went down over here.

good luck to your friend
xx

I suppose if she were accused of shoplifting in a store that only sold large sized items, and she had 2 or 3 bags, of which her purse had the drugs and was an evening bag or smaller in size, she may have a defense that they did not have probable cause to search the purse because none of the potential items that could have been shoplifted could have fit in the bag...lots of ifs though

4th amendment states you cannot have unreasonable search or seizures
criteria for a warrant is needed but i don't really know i thought i would jsut throw that out there haha. 15 ecstacy pills...sounds like a gangster haha no j.k sounds like a loser get some new friends. i had a friend like that and once i went off too college i realized that ppl like him are weak and wont make it in this life and it's not my responsibility to deal with it

fish324

well, first of all parking lots are not your private property,they have to belong to somebody and if somebody gave authority to someone then yada yada yada .My suggestion is to hire a lawyer,.

Ryan N

SHE DID SOMETHING WRONG!!! QUIT TRYING TO GET HER OUT OF HER OWN MESS SHE GOT HERSELF INTO!!!

Adam N

She's going down.
Tell her to practise the art of lettuce licking.............

Derek Boros

well tell her to tell them to look at the camera at the stor that she was at when she was shopping

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