What is the name of your state? Ohio
i work at a drive thru and allegedly sold alcohol to a friend. There was a police officer passing by and he did not see me selling alcohol but saw me talking to my friend. the officer camps out at a near by parking lot and follows my friend for about three miles until he is pulled over. my friend asks why he was pulled over and the officer says its because a license plate light was out, although it was working fine and was not out. the officer then asks if he can search the vehicle and my friend said "I'd prefer it if you didn't", which i believe was interpreted as a no because the officer said okay then said he was going to call in the k-9 unit. the dog began to search the outside of the car and did not scratch sit or bark at anything, no hinting at anything. the officer then opened up the car and put the dog inside and he did the same thing, constantly moving across the car without stopping. It appeared that the dog did not find anything because there were no narcotics in the car and there had never been. At that point the officer began to search the car himself and found the bottle of alcohol. My friend told him he got it from me and the police came to my work and arrested me. In the process if being arrested they found 13 percocets that are unprescribed but i take them for pain and never abuse them. I do not do drugs or drink alcohol. It is my first charge for drugs and second for contributing (first one was an accident and sold to undercover cop 6 months prior).
My question is could this case be dropped because of lack of probable cause and illegal searches? I got in trouble because the officer saw me talking to someone, then followed him and pulled him over for false reasons (license plate light), and then searched his car without permission and without a hit from the k-9 unit. If not what is the minimum and maximum penalties i could be facing? Also the only paper work i have received is the charge for alcohol and nothing for the drugs, whats going on with that?
i work at a drive thru and allegedly sold alcohol to a friend. There was a police officer passing by and he did not see me selling alcohol but saw me talking to my friend. the officer camps out at a near by parking lot and follows my friend for about three miles until he is pulled over. my friend asks why he was pulled over and the officer says its because a license plate light was out, although it was working fine and was not out. the officer then asks if he can search the vehicle and my friend said "I'd prefer it if you didn't", which i believe was interpreted as a no because the officer said okay then said he was going to call in the k-9 unit. the dog began to search the outside of the car and did not scratch sit or bark at anything, no hinting at anything. the officer then opened up the car and put the dog inside and he did the same thing, constantly moving across the car without stopping. It appeared that the dog did not find anything because there were no narcotics in the car and there had never been. At that point the officer began to search the car himself and found the bottle of alcohol. My friend told him he got it from me and the police came to my work and arrested me. In the process if being arrested they found 13 percocets that are unprescribed but i take them for pain and never abuse them. I do not do drugs or drink alcohol. It is my first charge for drugs and second for contributing (first one was an accident and sold to undercover cop 6 months prior).
My question is could this case be dropped because of lack of probable cause and illegal searches? I got in trouble because the officer saw me talking to someone, then followed him and pulled him over for false reasons (license plate light), and then searched his car without permission and without a hit from the k-9 unit. If not what is the minimum and maximum penalties i could be facing? Also the only paper work i have received is the charge for alcohol and nothing for the drugs, whats going on with that?