What Do I Do? Police Want to Search My Car
Search Attempts Following a Traffic Stop
A trend that we have noticed lately is that many police officers have started having drivers exit their vehicle during normal traffic stops for things like speeding or seat belt violations. Under most of the case law, this is entirely permissible up to a certain extent. Having a person step out of the vehicle during a lawful stop is considered a de minimus or small intrusion. An officer can legally ask you to step out of a vehicle and even frisk you while they are stopping you for a speeding ticket.
Here is the important thing that we tell our clients, comply with the officers as far as your license, registration and insurance when being stopped for a minor traffic violation, but the traffic stop technically ends when the citation is given. Our general advice is to never consent to a search. The officers do not have approval of negotiating power in a court case, and you will not help your position by allowing them to search your effects.
We have had cases where the officers claimed that they received consent to search after giving the citation. The case law in this area is still developing, but “traffic stops must be temporary and no longer than necessary to effectuate the purpose of the stop.” That basically means that, while an officer has you pulled over to give you a ticket, any investigation or other actions must be done in the time frame that it takes to give you the ticket.
In Tennessee, when an officer stops a vehicle and develops new suspicions of another crime, the officer has to diligently pursue a means to confirm that new suspicion. This becomes tricky where the officer issues the ticket, then asks to search. Arguably, by giving the ticket and returning the Defendant’s license the officer ended the stop, and asking to search is objectively unreasonable. Such a scenario was mentioned in State v. Donaldson, 380 S.W.3d 86, 96 (Tenn. 2012). The counter to this, which the State, generally argues is that, after returning the citation, the interaction between the officer and the Defendant is merely consensual.
This area of argument is still fairly unsettled. So, in this situation, simply decline to answer all questions about searches, and do not consent to a search of your vehicle. Our attorneys have been attempting these post-citations in the general sessions courts with limited success. If you have been involved in this situation, you want someone on your side who knows where the cases side on this issue, and how to artfully argue the law for you.
