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Pulled Over , Questionable?

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Binary

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? California

Hey guys, I was just pulled over today, And i Dont belive I was given my rights, But I could be mistaken...

I went to pick my little brother (16) Up from his football practice on a College Campus, As I was about to pull out of a parking lot a cop (A real cop, Not Campus police) drove pass, My brother.. The dumbass he is.. Screams something about the cop.

The cop then makes a uturn, and tells us to pull over.
The female cop, Then asks another male officer to assist her. The male yells "driver, Please Get out of your car" So I get out, He immedly says "What was said outa your car" I Said "I do belive i have the right to know why I was pulled over" , Then he repeat himself, Saying " What was said?!" (Raising his voice) I then said "I do have the right to know why I was pulled over before asking any questions, Dont I? "

He then replied .. again.. with raising his voice "Are you an attorney?"
I said "Do I , or don't have Have my rights?" He said .. almost yelling, "Are you an attorney"
I .. Tired of repeating my self said "No"

Then then asked my brothers name, I told him I dont have to say anything.
After that he told me to stand next to his car, I then asked the female officer If I could call someone with my cell phone, She said no..
The male then went over and asked my brother the same questions, My brother just said he didnt say anything.

After all this (10-15 mins later) The cop comes up to me (male cop) And says "We have the right on this campus, and in the state of california to *Investigate * Anything we hear out of cars. "

"Do you understand"
I said "umm"
Then he repeat himself a tad louder
"Do you understand"
I said "Sure.."

Then I asked for his name, He pointed to his nametag, I Asked him If i could have his first name, he said no.
then i asked the female officer her name, Got her name aswell...

Is there any wrong doing here?
They didnt ask for ID, Proof of insurance, Registration, Hell they didnt even ask my name...
They wouldn't tell me what I was pulled over for , And repeatly asked me questions without me knowing why i was pulled over...

Let me know if this is just the law :D
Thanks alot!!
 


Some Random Guy

Senior Member
Ok, so you two bozos antagonize the police and are then surprised that they would come over to investigate. Then you fail to obey legal instructions from an officer of the law and generally make an a** of yourselves.

You're lucky you weren't cited.

Of course the police can investigate erratic vehicular behavior. Its one of the easiest ways to find drunk drivers.
 

chipdouglas

Junior Member
Some Random Guy said:
Ok, so you two bozos antagonize the police and are then surprised that they would come over to investigate. Then you fail to obey legal instructions from an officer of the law and generally make an a** of yourselves.

You're lucky you weren't cited.

Of course the police can investigate erratic vehicular behavior. Its one of the easiest ways to find drunk drivers.
Great advice, Some Random Guy.
 

Binary

Junior Member
First off, I don't appreciate being called a "Bozo" I never said anything disrespectful to the police, My brother made a statement, Not me..
Secondly , I asked him if I had the right or not to know why I was pulled over, He never gave me a straight answer, I get "Are you an attorney" A smart ass answer.. I was being very polite to him Using please's thankyou's , Ect, I just wanted to know the law.

Cited? For what? I never disobeyed orders, He said get out of the car, I got out. He said stand next to my car, I stood next to it.

He asked me what My brother said, is it , or is it not my right , to not to answer?
 

justalayman

Senior Member
Binary said:
First off, I don't appreciate being called a "Bozo" I never said anything disrespectful to the police, My brother made a statement, Not me..
Secondly , I asked him if I had the right or not to know why I was pulled over, He never gave me a straight answer, I get "Are you an attorney" A smart ass answer.. I was being very polite to him Using please's thankyou's , Ect, I just wanted to know the law.

Cited? For what? I never disobeyed orders, He said get out of the car, I got out. He said stand next to my car, I stood next to it.

He asked me what My brother said, is it , or is it not my right , to not to answer?
If a poster named cwjava comes on, listen to him. He is a cop but he shoots straight.

The thing anybody is going to tell you is, "why would you yell something at a cop and then NOT expect to get pulled over?" The cop can always use the "I though he was calling for assistance" or anything that would make the cop think you wanted his attention thing so he will get away with a legit stop.

A cop cannot pull you over just to do a license and reg check BUT by you interacting the way you (or your brother) did gave them carte blanche to pull you over.

So it looks like you didn't finish your story. What was the end result of the detention? If he didn't check license or reg did he ever intimate what he may have been seeking?
 

Binary

Junior Member
Thanks for the reply!

He, Wasn't the officer that pulle me over, The woman was. He was just going off what she said happend.

He talked alot, seemed to try to avoid getting"Legal" I asked why i was pulled over, My rights, ect. Just didnt seem to want to give me a reason..
At the end he said that he has the right to Investigate a Sound comming from a car, Then as he drove off, The woman (Pretty pissed... ) Yelled "Keep your comments to yourself"

I mean in all reason, I'm not upset that I was pulled over, my brother was being stupid..
But I am upset that he refused to tell me why I was pulled over (The legal reason) He refused to let me know my rights, and the smart remarks while raising his voice "Are you an attorney" I just wanted to know what I can and cant do...

Anyways.. No ticket, No nothing.. I'm assuming they just tried to scare us .
 

AHA

Senior Member
Binary said:
I just wanted to know what I can and cant do...

Anyways.. No ticket, No nothing.. I'm assuming they just tried to scare us .
What needs to get done? No one was hurt and it didn't cost you or little bro a dime, so just write it down as lesson learned, and keep your attorney with you in your car at all times if you don't want to answer any questions without him/her present.
 

Binary

Junior Member
Nothing was learned.. I already knew my brother was a dumbass, not exactly breaking news...
What I would have liked to learn was the answers to my questions...
Why can't he have just answered "why was I pulled over"
Officer: " We where investigating some noise comming from your car"
Me: "ah, ok" (Answers his questions)

But no.. It didnt go like that, He didnt answer why I was pulled over, nor let me know my rights.
Isn't it a law, to let me know what my rights are?
 

justalayman

Senior Member
The only rights you are required to be informed of is your "miranda" rights. And actually even these rights are not required to be voiced unless the interogator desires to use the answers as testimony.

Other than that, not really. As I posted earlier, you yelling really gave him a reason/excuse to check you out. It is odd that he didn't check license or reg though. It does seem as if it was to hassle but since there were no charges, you haven't been injured. Not really anything you can do about anything.

Just smack the bro upside his head and tell him if he wants to ride, he keeps his mouth shut and hand gestures (you never know what they might do in the future) to himself.
 

AHA

Senior Member
Binary said:
Nothing was learned.. I already knew my brother was a dumbass, not exactly breaking news...
What I would have liked to learn was the answers to my questions...
Why can't he have just answered "why was I pulled over"
Officer: " We where investigating some noise comming from your car"
Me: "ah, ok" (Answers his questions)

But no.. It didnt go like that, He didnt answer why I was pulled over, nor let me know my rights.
Isn't it a law, to let me know what my rights are?

Well then, hopefully bro learned his lesson. I'm sure at some point in his life he'll be grateful that there are cops around for when HE needs their help.
Cops are supposed to make sure the streets are safe and peaceful, so when kids are yelling profanities (I doubt bro was yelling compliments) from a car window, they SHOULD put a stop to it asap and make sure that was the only nuisance the people in the car were doing.

All they asked was what was yelled from the car, you don't need to claim human rights in order to answer that and make sure the cops realise that you are not drunk, on drugs or anything else that could be dangerous behind the wheel.

You got away with no "casualties" in person or in wallet, so leave it at that.
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
Binary said:
Nothing was learned.. I already knew my brother was a dumbass, not exactly breaking news...
What did your brother actually do or say, and how did he do it? Was he leaning out of a car window at the time? Jumping up and down in a seat? What?

If he simply yelled, "Good afternoon, officers," I doubt they would have pulled you over. And pulling someone over without good cause would be unlawful. Hopefully they could articulate cause if pressed.

What I would have liked to learn was the answers to my questions...
Why can't he have just answered "why was I pulled over"
Officer: " We where investigating some noise comming from your car"
Me: "ah, ok" (Answers his questions)
Primarily because YOU do not control the encounter - the officer does. The officer is under NO legal obligation in CA to advise you why he pulled you over. And he sure as HECK is not going to debate it with you. had you answered his question and then politely asked why you were pulled over, he probably would have told you. but when the first words out of your mouth are quasi-confrontational, you set the tone for the contact as being antagonistic.

I rarely answer that question until I have obtained what information I want first.

One of the best ways to lose control of a contact is to get into a debate with someone. When a driver begins with a confrontational tone, it does little good to feed that fire by providing something they can debate. if they had given you a reason you woul dhave likely interjected, 'That's not what I did! You're wrong!" Etc ...

But no.. It didnt go like that, He didnt answer why I was pulled over, nor let me know my rights.
State and federal case law say he does not have to read you your Miranda rights during a traffic detention as Miranda is not applicable during such a stop.

Isn't it a law, to let me know what my rights are?
Not on a traffic stop, no.

- Carl
 

Binary

Junior Member
Thanks for the replys, I'm not so upset about it now.
I still think that things could have gone better, But owell...

Thanks again!
 
Binary said:
Thanks for the replys, I'm not so upset about it now.
I still think that things could have gone better, But owell... Thanks again!
From all that's been said, neither you nor the cops violated any laws, and your guaranteed civil and constitutional rights were not infringed. Happens like that with some frequency, and though irritating and sometimes creating problems for citizens and cop, any legislation aimed at eliminating a stop like yours would seriously hamper the aim of society to be kept an orderly operation, by use of hired enforcers. By a stroke of good luck you encountered cops who did less to disrup your life than they have leeway to do. Would have gone smoother if you did not try to involve the cop in the practice of law...defining your rights for you. It's up to you to know your rights ahead of time. It's up to little brother, and those who may have some influence in his education, to self-regulate and know the extent to which lack of it can mess up other people.
 

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