Mike
Site Co-Founder
2 great links re driver and roadblock rights:
http://www.motorists.org/dui/traffic-stop and http://blog.motorists.org/5-things-you-need-to-know-about-roadblocks
Note 1: In virginia mere reasonable suspicion does NOT allow police to demand you perform field chemical test - they must have probable cause of DUI to arrest you and take you to station or other facility to force test.
So refuse to answer police questions about your journey, whether you drank alcohol, have guns in your car, etc., and refuse to take the field chemical tests or otherwise perform stupid roadside pet tricks. All of this is just used to try to trick you into building probable cause to arrest you so that you can be forced to take the chemical test.
Note 2: Under the recent US Supreme Court case of Arizona v. Gant, merely arresting a driver does not provide a police entitlement" to search the vehicle without a warrant. "Police may search a vehicle incident to a recent occupant’s arrest only if the arrestee is within reaching distance of the passenger compartment at the time of the search or it is reasonable to believe the vehicle contains evidence of the offense of arrest. When these justifications are absent, a search of an arrestee’s vehicle will be unreasonable unless police obtain a warrant or show that another exception to the warrant requirement applies." Gant.
Gant makes clear that a mere vehicle stop made pursuant to reasonable suspicion, or a road block erected pusuant to an exception to the reasonable suspicioon requirement, see Michigan v. Sitz, is NOT an exception to the warrant requirement.
Motorists need to know when they are searched unlawfully so they can sue the police afterwards. So firmly refuse to allow a seach of you or your car.
And police need to know when searches are unlawful too so they can avoid screwing up and letting bad guys off the hook via the bad guys' lawyers' suppression of evidence motions.
http://www.motorists.org/dui/traffic-stop and http://blog.motorists.org/5-things-you-need-to-know-about-roadblocks
Note 1: In virginia mere reasonable suspicion does NOT allow police to demand you perform field chemical test - they must have probable cause of DUI to arrest you and take you to station or other facility to force test.
So refuse to answer police questions about your journey, whether you drank alcohol, have guns in your car, etc., and refuse to take the field chemical tests or otherwise perform stupid roadside pet tricks. All of this is just used to try to trick you into building probable cause to arrest you so that you can be forced to take the chemical test.
Note 2: Under the recent US Supreme Court case of Arizona v. Gant, merely arresting a driver does not provide a police entitlement" to search the vehicle without a warrant. "Police may search a vehicle incident to a recent occupant’s arrest only if the arrestee is within reaching distance of the passenger compartment at the time of the search or it is reasonable to believe the vehicle contains evidence of the offense of arrest. When these justifications are absent, a search of an arrestee’s vehicle will be unreasonable unless police obtain a warrant or show that another exception to the warrant requirement applies." Gant.
Gant makes clear that a mere vehicle stop made pursuant to reasonable suspicion, or a road block erected pusuant to an exception to the reasonable suspicioon requirement, see Michigan v. Sitz, is NOT an exception to the warrant requirement.
Motorists need to know when they are searched unlawfully so they can sue the police afterwards. So firmly refuse to allow a seach of you or your car.
And police need to know when searches are unlawful too so they can avoid screwing up and letting bad guys off the hook via the bad guys' lawyers' suppression of evidence motions.
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