Illegal search, pot pipe found.

Spearfish, South Dakota


An officer had my vehicle towed when it had only been approximately 6 hours on a county road. It was on the side stuck in snow where they had previously had the road plowed.
He searched my vehicle, and is charging me with drug paraphernalia. I've been told my lawyers and police officers that they are pretty sure the search he did was illegal, how do I find out? If it was an illegal search, I want to take a lawyer with me to court. If not, I will plead guilty to the charges.

Your lawyer would find out if it was an illegal search based on the officer's notes, which would probably come up after your lawyer has filed for discovery of said notes. At this point, you would have already paid to retain the attorney and he's probably billing you hours based on his filing and reviewing the material. How much are you willing to spend, especially knowing that you could have spent that money to find out that the search was perfectly legal and will not be thrown out?

My opinion: the officer conducted an inventory of the vehicle pursuant to the towing of the vehicle (not only legal, but encouraged to ensure that you get your property back in the same condition you left it), and it was during the course of his duty that he came across your illegal paraphernalia, which means the search was legal and can/will be used against you.

I'm not saying get rid of the lawyer, especially since he could potentially be your best friend in this matter (even if the search is found to be allowable). A local attorney knows best what the courts want to hear, and as such present the highest potential in yielding the most favorable results. Many attorneys offer free/cheap consultations, so you should probably take advantage of this and sit down with a couple to see what insight they may have to offer.

Chels0o0 said:

Spearfish, South Dakota


An officer had my vehicle towed when it had only been approximately 6 hours on a county road. It was on the side stuck in snow where they had previously had the road plowed.
He searched my vehicle, and is charging me with drug paraphernalia. I've been told my lawyers and police officers that they are pretty sure the search he did was illegal, how do I find out? If it was an illegal search, I want to take a lawyer with me to court. If not, I will plead guilty to the charges.

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If you were not with the car, then it was abandoned and the officer was correct to have it towed. I agree with The Occultist--he was likely performing a safety inventory to make sure there was nothing in the car that would endanger either himself or the tow-truck operator and found the paraphernalia while conducting that inventory.

If that's the case, then it sounds like the search was likely valid.

Upon what do your lawyer/police officer friends base their opinion that the search was illegal?

The first thing would be to obtain a copy of the police report. Than if the reason for the search is questionable than file the motion.

ElvinMelvin said:

If you were not with the car, then it was abandoned and the officer was correct to have it towed. I agree with The Occultist--he was likely performing a safety inventory to make sure there was nothing in the car that would endanger either himself or the tow-truck operator and found the paraphernalia while conducting that inventory.

If that's the case, then it sounds like the search was likely valid.

Upon what do your lawyer/police officer friends base their opinion that the search was illegal?

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maybe the officer could check the plates and see if its abandoned?

the search was unnecessary and therefore unreasonable? the officer was never actually in any danger

Chels0o0 said:

Spearfish, South Dakota


An officer had my vehicle towed when it had only been approximately 6 hours on a county road. It was on the side stuck in snow where they had previously had the road plowed.
He searched my vehicle, and is charging me with drug paraphernalia. I've been told my lawyers and police officers that they are pretty sure the search he did was illegal, how do I find out? If it was an illegal search, I want to take a lawyer with me to court. If not, I will plead guilty to the charges.

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i wouldnt plead quilty?

Dillon said:

maybe the officer could check the plates and see if its abandoned?

the search was unnecessary and therefore unreasonable? the officer was never actually in any danger

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we do not know the position of the vehicle. It may have been close enough to the roadway to be considered a safety hazard and had to me moved for that purpose.

Maybe it appeared it had been in an accident.

Probably never going to know the officers justification but yes, it would appear to pivot on that reasoning.

justalayman said:

we do not know the position of the vehicle. It may have been close enough to the roadway to be considered a safety hazard and had to me moved for that purpose.

Maybe it appeared it had been in an accident.

Probably never going to know the officers justification but yes, it would appear to pivot on that reasoning.

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You're trying to appeal to Dillon? Well, you're a better man than I.

I think your post could potentially be irrelevant. Many, many municipalities (and yes, considering I don't know whether or not the OP might belong to such strongly negates the validity of my post, I'm still going ahead with it anyways, but I still place this post above anything Dillon has to say) have local ordinances that prevent a vehicle from occupying the shoulder of a "busy" enough roadway regardless of whether or not an implication of safety hazards come into play.

The Occultist said:

You're trying to appeal to Dillon? Well, you're a better man than I.

I think your post could potentially be irrelevant. Many, many municipalities (and yes, considering I don't know whether or not the OP might belong to such strongly negates the validity of my post, I'm still going ahead with it anyways, but I still place this post above anything Dillon has to say) have local ordinances that prevent a vehicle from occupying the shoulder of a "busy" enough roadway regardless of whether or not an implication of safety hazards come into play.

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hey, I'm just that kind of guy

Your suggestion would fall into line with the overall idea of mine. If the car was not allowed to be there for any reason, the tow would be legal. Unless the OP can argue it was legally parked, he is going to lose.

justalayman said:

hey, I'm just that kind of guy

Your suggestion would fall into line with the overall idea of mine. If the car was not allowed to be there for any reason, the tow would be legal. Unless the OP can argue it was legally parked, he is going to lose.

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accident mean no willful criminal intent.

what proof would the state have he parked it ? absence his confession. - but why would one do that?

as you know the state lacks subject matter jurisdiction since no ones legal rights were violated.

the state will operate under the presumption of innocents till the DA testifies under oath on the record with his/her first hand knowledge of the incident.

(id like to see that)

is there proof he is even the legal owner of the car? - as opposed to the equitable owner.

Dillon, you're an idiot. Whether or not he parked the vehicle is completely irrelevant to the situation. Anybody could have parked it there, and it wouldn't change anything. How has Dillon not been banned yet?

Dillon said:

accident mean no willful criminal intent.

what proof would the state have he parked it ? absence his confession. - but why would one do that?

as you know the state lacks subject matter jurisdiction since no ones legal rights were violated.

the state will operate under the presumption of innocents till the DA testifies under oath on the record with his/her first hand knowledge of the incident.

(id like to see that)

is there proof he is even the legal owner of the car? - as opposed to the equitable owner.

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the one thing you forgot: if it is a yellow car, the cops had no right to tow or search the car. Any other color makes a valid target. If it was green, they could have actually had it crushed because green cars are just ugly.

The Occultist said:

Dillon, you're an idiot. Whether or not he parked the vehicle is completely irrelevant to the situation. Anybody could have parked it there, and it wouldn't change anything. How has Dillon not been banned yet?

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I am still working on an addendum to the TOS to ban idiots from posting malarkey in this forum.

Dillon said:

accident mean no willful criminal intent.

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One does not have to willfully break the law for a crime to be committed. Ignorance of the law is not a viable defense.

Dillon said:

what proof would the state have he parked it ? absence his confession. - but why would one do that?

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The state doesn't need to prove that he left the car on the side of the road. They need to prove that his car was left on the side of the road.

Dillon said:

as you know the state lacks subject matter jurisdiction since no ones legal rights were violated.

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Not true, I think you need to stop using words and phrases you don't understand.

Dillon said:

the state will operate under the presumption of innocents till the DA testifies under oath on the record with his/her first hand knowledge of the incident.

(id like to see that)

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What is the "presumption of innocents?" Again you are trying to use legal phrases you don't even partially comprehend. Why would the DA need to testify of any first hand knowledge of the incident?

Dillon said:

is there proof he is even the legal owner of the car? - as opposed to the equitable owner.

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The registration of the vehicle will be enough to establish ownership of the vehicle. Equitable ownership has nothing to do with this particular incident.

I disagree

The Occultist said:

Dillon, you're an idiot. Whether or not he parked the vehicle is completely irrelevant to the situation. Anybody could have parked it there, and it wouldn't change anything. How has Dillon not been banned yet?

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Let me preface this by saying I'm a defense attorney, but not giving legal advice. Who parked the vehicle (or what the police officers know of it) is very relevant, because the charge of Paraphernalia must show POSSESSION. If you were not in the car, you couldn't have possessed it. The ownership of the car is not proof beyond a reasonable doubt So, any statements you might have made to the police admitting to it could be devastating to your case. For instance, for all the police officers know, your dopehead son/friend was driving the car and left it there. Second, as long as the officer was permitted to tow the car, which I think he was, he was permitted to do an inventory search of the vehicle as a matter of course.