Quote:
Originally Posted by hungryhung
I was driving down Bethel School Rd. and noticed a police officer behind. I made sure I was
obey all the street laws. I checked my speed which was under 30 miles per hour and was
slowing down to a complete stop behind the white line while signaling. I was at a standing
still for aleast 5 seconds. I made my right turn while still signaling in to Denton Tap with
the Denton Tap light just turning green and the officer behind me turned on his lights. I
pulled over in to Vanbedder Rd and turned on my car top light so he can see inside the car. He asked to see my hands and I put them outside the window. He
asked why I had opened my car door which was because I am use to opening the car door. He
tells me that my tint was too dark. I told him they were not because another officer had
checked to see the percetage and it was legal during the 4th of July. I gave him my licenses
and car insurance. He was back to his car and I was putting up the insurance papers. He came
back to the car and asked why I was making movements. I told him I was putting up the
insurance. He asked if there was any narcotics or weapons. I told him no and I don't have
anything. I said "You could search my car, but you would only be wasting your time." I said
could because it is "used to express a possibility" and was not granting him consent to. He
was able to, but I did not say he can. He goes back to his car and then back to me and tells
me to get out of the car. He starts to search me which I didn't consent to and then to my
car. He tells me to sit on the ground and I do. It was 74 degrees and I am not wearing a
shirt. I was waiting very long and feeling very cold. Wearing only flip flops and shorts in
74 degree weather gets cold for a little guy like me. I had just came out of bed and leaving
for gas. I told the 2nd officer that I did not consent to the search because there was no
reason to. The first officer said I did. After waiting for the officer to search my whole car for
nothing. He went back to his car and both him and the other officer were talking at his car.
I was still sitting on the ground waiting which felt forever. They tell me I can go back to
my car and they were still talking and I continued waiting for a long while. He comes back
to me and tells me my violation which was failing to stop at a stopping point. I disagree
right away because I made sure I was obeying all the laws. All of this took aleast 30 minutes...
HELP. I know I gave up my rights when I said "could search my car. " What can I do? I end up feeling like a criminal and a "failure to stop at a stopping point" ticket. How can I beat this ticket?
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Your posting brings up two different issues: Police misconduct, and beating a ticket.
First of all, that fact that you stated "You could search the car", implies consent. And secondly, even if it didn't, you don't HAVE to give consent to have your vehicle searched. Probable cause for searching a vehicle is very different from that of a home. Your acting nervous, or furtive, as interpreted by the cop gave him probable cause to search your vehicle. He did nothing wrong. Making you sit on the curb is not cruel, even at 54 degrees, much less 74. If you have some medical condition that makes the "brisk chill" at 74 degrees intolerable, you should carry a jacket at all times. Now, if it had been 34, and you were shirtless, that might be different. You could have complained about being cold--I am sure they would have gladly put you into the back seat of the patrol car.
Second issue: the ticket. If you go to court and forgo all of the "I'm so wronged, I had to sit on the curb in the freezing cold" rhetoric, you could point out to the judge that nothing about a traffic infraction was mentioned. Explain that the reason they gave you for the stop was window tint, yet the ticket you actually received is for something they would have had to notice BEFORE stopping you. In other words, if the cop had said, "I'm stopping you for window tint violation", then your window tint "checks out", and ends up giving you a ticket for something else such as opened container ( something he couldn't have known BEFORE the stop) the discrepancy between the reason given and the ticket makes sense. But, not stopping at the white line is something he would have noticed before stopping you.
However, the police do not have to give you a reason for stopping you--for arresting or detaining you, yes, but stopping you? No. Not sure you'd win in court, but its worth a shot. I would skip over the other nonsense posted about being cold, etc. It makes any merit you have regarding the ticket seem silly. Don't cloud the issue--the ticket---with irrelevant details, such as you don't like sitting outside without a shirt on. Also, at times, acting TOO cautious, over exaggerating stopping and the such is an indication that something is wrong. Trying hard NOT to get stopped can raise suspicion as well.
Bottom line (notice--I don't expect a copyright for a common phrase dozens of people use in this forum):The police did nothing wrong. Your position is you did nothing wrong. Go to court, contest the ticket, but don't go with the presumption that the police did anything wrong in stopping you. Doing so detracts from the legitimacy of your position that the ticket wasn't justified.