hihowsitgoin
Junior Member
I am in Arizona. A couple of nights ago I was walking down the street with a friend and was stopped by an officer. He said he stopped us because he was looking for two vandals. We gladly gave him our IDs, points of origin and destination and reason for being out. After he had communicated our information over the radio he asked if he could search us, explaining they were searching everyone (the implication being due to the supposed vandalism). Forgetting I had a bag of weed in my pocket I agreed along with my friend. While my friend was being searched I realized I still had the weed in my pocket and told the officer as much. He confiscated it and the knife I declared upon being asked if I had any weapons, cuffed me and took me over to his car at which point he read me my Miranda rights and began asking me various questions regarding my damning evidence. Over the course of this questioning he informed me that he had asked to search us because we smelled like weed.
My question is this- were my rights violated in being lied to regarding the reason for the search? It is my understanding that I have the right to refuse a search. I only consented to the search (at the time forgetting I was possessing) because I was under the impression it was for evidence of vandalism. I was seeking to rectify the situation quickly by proving there were no grounds to believe me a vandal. If he had stated his true reason for requesting the search I would have denied him regardless of what I had on me on moral grounds- I don't think it's right for a police to be able to search anyone walking down the street because of how they smell. Besides the weed in my pocket I wasn't doing anything illegal, harrassing anyone, or giving any reason to believe me a criminal. I was crossing the street en route to the gas station to purchase a lighter in a peaceful, orderly manner. My arraignment is on tuesday and I need to know how to plead. Do I have a case to get this thrown out or at least a no contest? I would prefer to have this over with as quickly as possible and will just plead guilty if I don't have a case but if my rights were violated (and it definitely feels like they were) I have no intention of bending over and taking it. This is not a fascist state and I will not allow my rights to be trampled on.
Thank you for any help you can supply.
My question is this- were my rights violated in being lied to regarding the reason for the search? It is my understanding that I have the right to refuse a search. I only consented to the search (at the time forgetting I was possessing) because I was under the impression it was for evidence of vandalism. I was seeking to rectify the situation quickly by proving there were no grounds to believe me a vandal. If he had stated his true reason for requesting the search I would have denied him regardless of what I had on me on moral grounds- I don't think it's right for a police to be able to search anyone walking down the street because of how they smell. Besides the weed in my pocket I wasn't doing anything illegal, harrassing anyone, or giving any reason to believe me a criminal. I was crossing the street en route to the gas station to purchase a lighter in a peaceful, orderly manner. My arraignment is on tuesday and I need to know how to plead. Do I have a case to get this thrown out or at least a no contest? I would prefer to have this over with as quickly as possible and will just plead guilty if I don't have a case but if my rights were violated (and it definitely feels like they were) I have no intention of bending over and taking it. This is not a fascist state and I will not allow my rights to be trampled on.
Thank you for any help you can supply.