Most everyone knows from years of watching Law & Order and other police procedural shows that police officers typically need a search warrant to demand to come into their home and look around. When an officer wants to search their vehicle, however, they are less clear about their rights.
That’s in part because protections against unlawful searches and seizures are codified in the U.S. Constitution. “Vehicles,” which were horse driven at the time, weren’t mentioned.
However, the U.S. Supreme Court has provided some rules over the ensuring centuries. It has determined that people have less expectation of privacy in a vehicle than they would in their home, so the same protections regarding search and seizure don’t apply.
Further, because the person stopped could potentially drive away, there isn’t time to get a search warrant. Therefore, as long as they have “probable cause” that such evidence is there, they have a legal right to search the vehicle.
A New Jersey Supreme Court ruling
A couple of years ago, a New Jersey Supreme Court ruling addressed the issue of probable cause in a case involving a man pulled over in Tom’s River. Police had been watching him and suspected he was involved in drug-related offenses. When he refused to consent to a search of his car, officers called in a drug-sniffing dog, who indicated the presence of drugs. They searched the vehicle and found drugs, weapons and ammunition.
Police and prosecutors contended the dog’s reaction gave officers probable cause for the search. The man argued that it didn’t.
The case made it up to the high court, which agreed with the lower courts that the police needed to have a warrant rather than rely on the dog since the circumstances weren’t “unforeseeable and spontaneous.” They already suspected the man of having drugs in his vehicle, the court ruled, which gave them time to get a warrant.
That wouldn’t apply to many cases where drivers are pulled over for suspicion of impaired driving or other criminal activity – for example, if a car reported stolen is spotted on the road. However, if police are already surveilling and investigating someone, they’re more likely to need a warrant to search their vehicle.
This can all be too much to remember if police pull you over and start searching your car without permission. However, by getting legal guidance as quickly as possible after an arrest, you can help ensure that if your rights were violated, evidence obtained illegally isn’t used against you.