Stopped at "Driver License Check point"

[Timo529]

What is the name of your state?
South Carolina

Hello,
I was recently riding with a friend of mine to the store when we came down a street where police were conducting what they called a Driver License check point. At this check point they stopped my friend and asked him for his license. He gave it to them with no problems, but the trouble arises because they came over to my side of the window and asked me for my license aswell. Even though I did not think this in itself was completely legal I did oblige to show my license. After this the police officer ordered me to get out of the car. And put my against his car and searched me(I understand about a terry search) but the police searched my inside my pockets aswell. During the search he discovered that I had a small bag of marijuana. I was written a ticket. After this the other police officer searched my friends car and found nothing. Was this a legal search of me being that i was only a passenger in the car at the driver license check point and if not what sort of recourse can I take to avoid having to pay the fine. By the way I guess i should mention that I do have a prior for simple possession in which I am due to start PTI before the date to show up for court for the ticket. Will this effect my PTI (I haven't learned all the information regarding the pti since I have not went to the appointment yet) Thanks in advance for any help that you can provide me

 

[mike_lee]

I hope one of the layers answer you, but I'll make them WANT to answer if I get something wrong. Firstly the police can do whatever they want. But the good news is, they get ****y and Judges start throwing their cases out. They buckle don for awhile but they get lax again.

When he ran your license and found you were on probation he has the right to search you anytime anywhere for any reason, which is why people would rather do 3 months in lockup then 2 years of probation. Since you had pot that is enough to search the driver and the car. (in police eyes) this might be a weak spot in their case

 

[CavemanLawyer]

These types of search and seizure issues vary substantially from state to state. In most states you are required to carry a form of ID on your person at all times whether you are driving or not. And in some states roadside stops to check for ID of all persons in the car are permissible, while in other states they are prohibited except under specific controlled circumstances (ex: outside an organized event like Mardi Gras.) I'm just going to guess that this police agency has a policy on roadside stops that jives with your state's law. I'd hope they wouldn't take it upon themselves to do something so organized if it was prohibited.

Another search issue that varies by state is whether a vehicle passenger even has standing to challenge the stop in the first place. In many states the law holds that a passenger has no right to privacy in someone else's car. So the cop could make a completely pretext stop and find drugs on both the driver and the passenger. The driver would have standing to challenge the stop and the drugs could be suppressed, equaling a dismissal. That same passenger couldn't challenge the stop no matter how egregious it was.

As for their search of your person, the law regarding this is actually fairly universal regardless of the state. If the officer could articulate facts supporting a belief that you may have weapons on your person than he is permitted to search you just for weapons. But if during the search he feels what is immediately noticeable as contraband, than he can do a further search to retrieve it. So if this happened than he could justifiably search your pockets. Also, if the officer could smell marijuana in the car or on your person, than that is enough for reasonable suspicion to search your entire person for drugs. That would justify an immediate search of your pockets.

It is possible that there is a suppression issue. It really depends on if the officer can justify his actions with specific facts.