Proper obtainment of search warrant?

[anteac]

In mid-august, I was driving down 395 South when I totaled my car. I'm lucky to be alive, but later that night at the hospital (Lakeview, OR), I was issued two citations, a misdemeanor and a felony, for the contents of my backpack, which was ejected from the vehicle along with most of the other contents of my car upon crashing. I was driven some fifty miles from the crash to the hospital. The officer confiscated my backpack and transported it to the police station (in the same town as the hospital, fifty some miles away). At this point, the officer obtained a search warrant (some five and a half hours later, fifty miles away from the crash site).

The nature of the officer's confiscation of my backpack seems quite dubious. I was completely sober at the time of the crash, save for shock, etc.
The next morning, the officer arrived at the hospital and explained to me that everything about the scene seemed fishy: (i.e. "where I was coming from," "the look of the crash scene," "and my affect," etc. indicated to him that I was illegally trafficking something, large amounts of cash, specifically.) Neither at the scene or the hospital did anyone assay my state of sobriety, or whether or not I had any illegal substances in my system. I also had a bloody contusion on the top of my head, blood dripping down, etc.
Can a police officer do this, confiscate my bag, hold it for five hours, AND THEN obtain a search warrant???

There are a few other details, but here are included the main ones. Please ask me questions if you must. I'm about to shell out $7,500 for a lawyer for this...

 

[LeeHarveyBlotto]

In mid-august, I was driving down 395 South when I totaled my car. I'm lucky to be alive, but later that night at the hospital (Lakeview, OR), I was issued two citations, a misdemeanor and a felony, for the contents of my backpack, which was ejected from the vehicle along with most of the other contents of my car upon crashing. I was driven some fifty miles from the crash to the hospital. The officer confiscated my backpack and transported it to the police station (in the same town as the hospital, fifty some miles away). At this point, the officer obtained a search warrant (some five and a half hours later, fifty miles away from the crash site).

The nature of the officer's confiscation of my backpack seems quite dubious. I was completely sober at the time of the crash, save for shock, etc.
The next morning, the officer arrived at the hospital and explained to me that everything about the scene seemed fishy: (i.e. "where I was coming from," "the look of the crash scene," "and my affect," etc. indicated to him that I was illegally trafficking something, large amounts of cash, specifically.) Neither at the scene or the hospital did anyone assay my state of sobriety, or whether or not I had any illegal substances in my system. I also had a bloody contusion on the top of my head, blood dripping down, etc.
Can a police officer do this, confiscate my bag, hold it for five hours, AND THEN obtain a search warrant???

There are a few other details, but here are included the main ones. Please ask me questions if you must. I'm about to shell out $7,500 for a lawyer for this...

There are multiple huge details missing here, and you're playing games. What were you charged with, and what was in the backpack?

 

[justalayman]

so, were they supposed to leave your backpack full of cash alongside the road?



If you do not believe they had probable cause to obtain a warrant, then you or your lawyer can seek to have the evidence within the pack suppressed. Right now you haven't really given enough info to be able to determine if it was legit or not.

 

[Mass_Shyster]

You'll need to read the affidavit that accompanied the application for the search warrant to determine if there was adequate probable cause.

 

[tranquility]

They must have had a suspicion based on other facts surrounding the crash. I think it pretty awesome they got a search warrant. The property could have been "abandoned" if unrelated to the crash or they could have done an inventory search by taking it in for safe keeping. By getting a search warrant, they suspected something before they opened it. (Or, are playing a game where they saw what was inside and ginned up some probable cause to get a warrant and search it proper.)

 

[swalsh411]

What's done is done. You were charged based on what was found in your backback. Now the ball is in your court for your attorney to argue that the search was improperr or there was insufficient probable cause for the warrant. The fact that your pack flew out the car or they held it for 5 hours is irrelevant. Of course they were going to wait until they had obtained a warrant otherwise it could be thrown out.

 

[HighwayMan]

Your personal property was recovered for safekeeping from the scene of the accident. The police saw something which indicated that a search of your bag was warranted. Rather than search it illegally they applied for and received a search warrant. A judge determined that there was probable cause to search your bag.

They had every right to have your bag - it was being held for you since you were hospitalized. This is one of the reasons that the police respond to reports of sick or injured persons - to safeguard any property or valuables involved.