Arrested for Felony Concealed weapons carry in Miami.

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This is truly a long story and I don't have the time to type it all out regretfully, but here it is in a nutshell. Im posting this here because I'm from Michigan and follow this forum a bunch.

Here goes:

March 9th I was in the process of moving so everything I owned was in my Jeep. I was parked at a public park talking on my cell phone when Miami Beach police show up and ask me to step out. They then asked if I had any weapons or alcohol in my vehicle. I told them that my handgun was in the very back in a holster buried underneath a bunch of stuff (legal in FL) They proceed to look for my gun and after 20 minutes they finally find it. At this point Im in the back of the car handcuffed. I argued with the officer that what they were doing is illegal. He didnt seem to care much. I spend a day in jail, bond out and hire a lawyer. Charges were dropped by the state due to no legal grounds to persue action against me. Now my lawyer is suing the Miami Beach police dept for wrongful arrest and hes doing it on contingincy. The firm is pretty confident that I will win this out of court within the next 6 months. Thats pretty much it so far. Like I said I could drag this out into a novel with all of the details but I dont have the time. Thought you guys might find this interesting.

- Justin

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Well that sucks. How'd they even find out you were carrying? How did this incident even get initiated?

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I've never been to Florida, but I know people who lived there. From what I've heard, the police down there can be exceptionally corrupt.

In the future, you would do well to invoke the 5th when they ask you questions that are no business of theirs. Remember, regardless of where you are, talking to a cop who is going on a fishing expedition to arrest you can only hurt you, it cannot possibly do any good. This is even more true of a place where the cops are corrupt as hell. :uhoh:

I hope you get a serious pay day out of this harassment, but like I said, please be more careful in the future. This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't told them about your handgun. :banghead:

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With the settlement I hope you get a VERY NICE NEW GUN and lots of ammo.

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How do you get a felony open carry charge for having your pistol in a holster under a pile of crap in the back of a jeep?

Why did the officers choose to show up and target your vehicle?

If it was a traffic stop, I can see how this can happen.

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jhanson25 wrote:

This is truly a long story and I don't have the time to type it all out regretfully, but here it is in a nutshell. Im posting this here because I'm from Michigan and follow this forum a bunch.

Here goes:

March 9th I was in the process of moving so everything I owned was in my Jeep. I was parked at a public park talking on my cell phone when Miami Beach police show up and ask me to step out. They then asked if I had any weapons or alcohol in my vehicle. I told them that my handgun was in the very back in a holster buried underneath a bunch of stuff (legal in FL) They proceed to look for my gun and after 20 minutes they finally find it. At this point Im in the back of the car handcuffed. I argued with the officer that what they were doing is illegal. He didnt seem to care much. I spend a day in jail, bond out and hire a lawyer. Charges were dropped by the state due to no legal grounds to persue action against me. Now my lawyer is suing the Miami Beach police dept for wrongful arrest and hes doing it on contingincy. The firm is pretty confident that I will win this out of court within the next 6 months. Thats pretty much it so far. Like I said I could drag this out into a novel with all of the details but I dont have the time. Thought you guys might find this interesting.

- Justin

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Question by cop: "Do you have any weapons of alcohol in your vehicle?"

Answer: "I have nothing illegal in my vehicle, and I don't consent to any warrentless searches."

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- Justin[/quote]
Question by cop: "Do you have any weapons of alcohol in your vehicle?"

Answer: "I have nothing illegal in my vehicle, and I don't consent to any warrentless searches."

 
[/quote]

This is what I would recommend as well.... However I would like to know what brought this on and what gave them PC to bother you in the first place??

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Decoligny wrote:

jhanson25 wrote:

This is truly a long story and I don't have the time to type it all out regretfully, but here it is in a nutshell. Im posting this here because I'm from Michigan and follow this forum a bunch.

Here goes:

March 9th I was in the process of moving so everything I owned was in my Jeep. I was parked at a public park talking on my cell phone when Miami Beach police show up and ask me to step out. They then asked if I had any weapons or alcohol in my vehicle. I told them that my handgun was in the very back in a holster buried underneath a bunch of stuff (legal in FL) They proceed to look for my gun and after 20 minutes they finally find it. At this point Im in the back of the car handcuffed. I argued with the officer that what they were doing is illegal. He didnt seem to care much. I spend a day in jail, bond out and hire a lawyer. Charges were dropped by the state due to no legal grounds to persue action against me. Now my lawyer is suing the Miami Beach police dept for wrongful arrest and hes doing it on contingincy. The firm is pretty confident that I will win this out of court within the next 6 months. Thats pretty much it so far. Like I said I could drag this out into a novel with all of the details but I dont have the time. Thought you guys might find this interesting.

- Justin

Click to expand...

Question by cop: "Do you have any weapons of alcohol in your vehicle?"

Answer: "I have nothing illegal in my vehicle, and I don't consent to any warrentless searches."

Click to expand...

The problem with this statement is that there are waaay too many law to be certain that there is nothing illegal.

Suppose that you tell them that and then they do find something illegal. Now, they can add the charge of obstruction to anything else they may find.

My solution is to tell them nothing, or to say "nothing of any unlawful knowledge/and/or intent."

jhanson25,

Did you get the okay from your lawyer before posting this story? I'd imagine he/she wouldn't want you publicizing the details, so you might want to consider removing the post. Publicity is a tool that the lawyers can use during litigation. It's a weapon that once fired, cannot be taken back.

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I drove to FL once to move a girlfriend, who was attending college down there, back to MI for the summer. I was pulled over because I had out of state plates and a car full of stuff which they thought I might be stealing.

Hell, just recently a friend of mine who lives in Comstock (near Kalamazoo) was questioned at his own house because he had his car running in his driveway. The police told him that because it was running it gave them RS that somebody may be inside robbing the place.

If they really want to hassle you they'll think of a reason.

Bronson

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Bronson wrote:

I drove to FL once to move a girlfriend, who was attending college down there, back to MI for the summer. I was pulled over because I had out of state plates and a car full of stuff which they thought I might be stealing.

Hell, just recently a friend of mine who lives in Comstock (near Kalamazoo) was questioned at his own house because he had his car running in his driveway. The police told him that because it was running it gave them RS that somebody may be inside robbing the place.

If they really want to hassle you they'll think of a reason.

Bronson

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In many places an unattended running car is a misdemeanor and you can be charged for it. I am not sure if you can get away with it if it is locked but I have heard of several people being charged for that very thing. Not to mention that if it is stolen under those circumstances your insurance may not cover it.

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ghostrider wrote:

The problem with this statement is that there are waaay too many law to be certain that there is nothing illegal.

Suppose that you tell them that and then they do find something illegal. Now, they can add the charge of obstruction to anything else they may find.

My solution is to tell them nothing, or to say "nothing of any unlawful knowledge/and/or intent."

jhanson25,

Did you get the okay from your lawyer before posting this story? I'd imagine he/she wouldn't want you publicizing the details, so you might want to consider removing the post. Publicity is a tool that the lawyers can use during litigation. It's a weapon that once fired, cannot be taken back.

Click to expand...

That is just BS. The charge would never stand, and the search and any subsequent evidence found would be thrown out as illegally obtained, poison fruit.

Any lawyer worth his/her degree would have the cops paying out the wazoo.

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I apologize it has taken me the afternoon to get back with you all. The reason the police showed up is they got a call from a woman about a suspicious person. I did not know sitting in your vehicle in a public lot with the windows down talking on the phone was a suspicious act. But who am I to say? It looks as though the worst thing to happen to me in my life might turn out to be a pretty good thing after all. I'm not getting ahead of myself here though. Just take it a day at a time and ride the thing out. The charges were BS and they were dropped at arraignment.

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Their charges against you were dropped. What about your charges against them?

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The charges against me were just dropped on the 30th. It will be a while for this all to be over with.

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Decoligny wrote:

ghostrider wrote:

The problem with this statement is that there are waaay too many law to be certain that there is nothing illegal.

Suppose that you tell them that and then they do find something illegal. Now, they can add the charge of obstruction to anything else they may find.

My solution is to tell them nothing, or to say "nothing of any unlawful knowledge/and/or intent."

jhanson25,

Did you get the okay from your lawyer before posting this story? I'd imagine he/she wouldn't want you publicizing the details, so you might want to consider removing the post. Publicity is a tool that the lawyers can use during litigation. It's a weapon that once fired, cannot be taken back.

Click to expand...

That is just BS. The charge would never stand, and the search and any subsequent evidence found would be thrown out as illegally obtained, poison fruit.

Any lawyer worth his/her degree would have the cops paying out the wazoo.

Click to expand...

Maybe so, but Martha Stewart didn't have anything to hide. But, she talked to the cops and went to jail.

If you feel confident doing it your way, then fine. More power to you.

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ghostrider wrote:

Decoligny wrote:

ghostrider wrote:

The problem with this statement is that there are waaay too many law to be certain that there is nothing illegal.

Suppose that you tell them that and then they do find something illegal. Now, they can add the charge of obstruction to anything else they may find.

My solution is to tell them nothing, or to say "nothing of any unlawful knowledge/and/or intent."

jhanson25,

Did you get the okay from your lawyer before posting this story? I'd imagine he/she wouldn't want you publicizing the details, so you might want to consider removing the post. Publicity is a tool that the lawyers can use during litigation. It's a weapon that once fired, cannot be taken back.

Click to expand...

That is just BS. The charge would never stand, and the search and any subsequent evidence found would be thrown out as illegally obtained, poison fruit.

Any lawyer worth his/her degree would have the cops paying out the wazoo.

Click to expand...

Maybe so, but Martha Stewart didn't have anything to hide. But, she talked to the cops and went to jail.

If you feel confident doing it your way, then fine. More power to you.

Click to expand...

MS went to jail for perjury. Evidently she wasn't too good at hiding much of anything.

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David in MI wrote:

ghostrider wrote:

Decoligny wrote:

ghostrider wrote:

The problem with this statement is that there are waaay too many law to be certain that there is nothing illegal.

Suppose that you tell them that and then they do find something illegal. Now, they can add the charge of obstruction to anything else they may find.

My solution is to tell them nothing, or to say "nothing of any unlawful knowledge/and/or intent."

jhanson25,

Did you get the okay from your lawyer before posting this story? I'd imagine he/she wouldn't want you publicizing the details, so you might want to consider removing the post. Publicity is a tool that the lawyers can use during litigation. It's a weapon that once fired, cannot be taken back.

Click to expand...

That is just BS. The charge would never stand, and the search and any subsequent evidence found would be thrown out as illegally obtained, poison fruit.

Any lawyer worth his/her degree would have the cops paying out the wazoo.

Click to expand...

Maybe so, but Martha Stewart didn't have anything to hide. But, she talked to the cops and went to jail.

If you feel confident doing it your way, then fine. More power to you.

Click to expand...

MS went to jail for perjury. Evidently she wasn't too good at hiding much of anything.

Click to expand...

I believe it was because she got caught lying to the police. They didn't get her on anything else, so they used what she gave them.

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Exactly. #5 is there for a reason.