[masraum]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

Um... I'm no lawyer (and I can prove it), but it is my understanding that the extent of a roadside search is what they can see from the outside of the car "in plain sight". If it is under the seat, in the glovebox, even in a bag or container of some kind in plain sight, it's off limits without a warrant. We have what is known as a "reasonable expectation of privacy" that the courts have held very dear. As a matter of fact, the Supreme Court ruled a couple of years ago that even bringing out a police dog now requires a warrant. If it is not visible and perceptible to a human, they have to get a warrant to look for it. Even then, they can only detain you for a "reasonable amount of time", which the courts have ruled is about ten to fifteen minutes, before they have to arrest you or let you go.

Those are of course, your rights, and while it pays to know them, it also pays to know when to stand up for them. Or not. "You have to know when to hold, know when to fold, know when to walk away, know when to run...". A dark lonely road is no place to assert those rights with a power tripping cop. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of videos out there on the web showing just what happens when folks do that.

I think that if they ask you if they can search your car, then they can do whatever. I think if they have "probable cause" then they can also do whatever. I think the situation that you describe is more about "I had pulled him over for speeding and could see a (gun, weed, syringe, etc...) laying in the (ashtray, floorboard, back seat, etc...) through the window, so I then had probably cause to go farther.

But I'm also not a lawyer and could be so far off base that I'm not even on the same ball field.