Marijuana Possession (Illegal Search?)

[ejw3010]

What is the name of your state? Massachusetts

I am a 22 year old male. My friends from another town came to my hometown to pick me up, (all ages range from 17-20), and bring me back to a friends house in their hometown. I quickly stopped at a liquor store around 10:30 pm to grab a few beers for myself. As we pulled out of the parking lot, immediately a police car sped up to follow us, and pulled us over. The first thing the officer said was that he pulled us over for a rear plate light not working.

He asked us for ID's, and I was the only one with one. Two more cop cars pull up and three of them start flashing flashlights into the backseat. One asks me to open my bag of
clothes and schoolwork. (I abide, simply because I had nothing to hide.)

The officer asked if I had bought any alcohol at the liquor store (because he saw us leave the lot) and I replied saying "yes, a few fortys for myself." knowing that I was legally able to buy for myself. He aggressively opened the driver's door and told my friend who was driving (17) to open the trunk to look at the beer. My friend looked startled (question 1: did the officer have any right to open the door and tell my friend to open the trunk for him?)

My friend had no time to react and say "I do not consent to this search."

My friend gets out of the car, and the officer looks at the beer. As he is doing that, however, another officer starts to rummage through the now empty front seat of the vehicle, and spends about two minutes digging under the chair (no consent was given)

He finds about less than a gram of marijuana and a pipe. My friend is then arrested.

What are my friends options as of now for court? Was this search and seizure legal? If he is found guilty, what are the penalties for a first time criminal possession of marijuana?

We are let go, except for my friend, and we later realize that nothing was wrong with the rear plate light.

 

[FlyingRon]

Your friends option is he gets a good lawyer.
The lawyer will challenge the validity of the stop. After that, it doesn't seem to be anything improper. The cops can ask to see things and if you volunteer, you suffer the consequences.

I have no clue as to the implications of the posession of marijuana in MA, but you can stop toking and drinking long enough to use google to find it on perhaps the NORML website.

 

[BoredAtty]

He aggressively opened the driver's door and told my friend who was driving (17) to open the trunk to look at the beer. My friend looked startled (question 1: did the officer have any right to open the door and tell my friend to open the trunk for him?)

Probably not, but it doesn't really matter since no evidence of a crime was found in the trunk.

My friend gets out of the car, and the officer looks at the beer. As he is doing that, however, another officer starts to rummage through the now empty front seat of the vehicle, and spends about two minutes digging under the chair (no consent was given)

He finds about less than a gram of marijuana and a pipe. My friend is then arrested.

Assuming there are no other facts not shared, the search doesn't sound legal . In order for the search to be legal, the officer would have needed consent or probable cause. The open door provides the officer with a better view of the interior, but that alone doesn't give him permission to begin digging under the car seat. Accordingly, the evidence obtained via the search should be excluded.

We are let go, except for my friend, and we later realize that nothing was wrong with the rear plate light.

If you can prove that there was nothing wrong with the rear plate light, then the stop was never legal, and all evidence should be excluded.

Of course, there are probably many pertinent facts left out of your story, which makes the outcome impossible to guess. I'm not assuming that you purposely omitted facts, but there may be facts that you aren't privy to. For example, maybe the officer smelled pot when the car door was left open, or maybe he saw suspicious movement by others in the car, etc. Hopefully your buddy will speak to a defense lawyer ASAP.

 

[ejw3010]

Response

I'm afraid I'm not leaving out any information. There was nothing unusual or suspicious about our behavior, and the only thing the cops had going was seeing us leave a liquor store parking lot.

 

[ejw3010]

Omitted Detail

The officer who began looking under the seat, rummaged under the seat for a few seconds, then stopped for a few minutes (I'm assuming because he realized what he was doing wasn't legal) but then continued to rummage again after he heard none of us state we didn't approve of what he just did.

 

[BoredAtty]

I'm afraid I'm not leaving out any information. There was nothing unusual or suspicious about our behavior, and the only thing the cops had going was seeing us leave a liquor store parking lot.

I'm afraid you missed my point.

You may think you have all of the information, but unless a hearing to exclude the evidence has already taken place, you aren't currently in a position to state what the officer will claim to justify his search.

 

[xylene]

The officers were mad that you were not "coming clean" about their belief you were purchasing alcohol for your minor peers.

That's all this boils down to.

Since you were not charged, you have no standing, other than to testify honestly if called to do so.