Bloodsucking small towns

[Smithy]

My friend was pulled over for speeding in a small Texas town. They asked to search his car and he said no. They told him to exit the car. He did and rolled up his windows. They said they were bringing the K-9 unit out to sniff around his car to see if drugs were in it. They formed a circle around him and tried to bully him into letting them search the car. Forty-five minutes later he would not oblige and no dogs had arrived. One of the officers said he smelled marijuana. My friend asked how this could be as the windows were rolled up but they searched the car anyway and found a marijuana pipe with a small amount of resintaed marijuana inside. (was this search legal?)
He went to jail and was held for three days without being brought before a judge. (They said he hadn't shown up for work.) On the third day I went down to help and the judge hadn't even realized he hadn't been seen. They brought him before a judge in my prescence and told him he could plead guilty to the charges (possession and paraphenalia) and pay five hundred dollars and be free never to have to return or he could plead not guilty and pay twice as much and have to return to go to court. He pleaded guilty, paid five hundred dollars and went home.
Now, two months later, they have sent a warrant for his arrest to his house on the paraphenalia charge. They told him and me that he would never have to go back there, that the charges were resolved. They never set a court date, and a court date did not precede the warrant in the mail. We have the receipt of the money we gave these people, but it doesn't list the charges, just his name the amount and the date. Is this legal? Who are these horrible money grubbing people?
Thank you.


P.S. They also took all the cash he had on him and his sunglasses. Is this right?

 

[HomeGuru]

I don't know.

 

[JETX]

Texas law allows for keeping the cash and the court money, but I don't think we allow confiscation of the sunglasses. Were they the "Patrolman Reflective" model???? If so, they are also subject to seizure.

 

[Smithy]

Nah, they were mid priced sunglasses. I liked them though, but I suppose there's no way to prove they were ever in the car.
My friend had an idea, however, to tell them that he would give them their money on the condition that his pipe, perfectly cleaned back to it's original legal state, be returned to him. Does this ever happen? It was a pretty cool piece. Where do these things go?

 

[JETX]

After the evidentiary value is gone (trial and possible appeals), they are either lost in the evidence room or they go into a big, huge, giant, massive, crusher. C-R-U-N-C-H!!!

 

[Smithy]

Not of paramount importance, but do you suppose that since the warrant issued is for the paraphenalia (sp?) charge that the piece is still in existance? And again, is the search of the car and now this warrant out of nowhere legal?
Thank you, again.