Arrest, Search, Seizure, Warrant Car was searched w/o Permission, and i wasnt even in it

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stevenmh

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Around 9pm last night, I was stranded in my car with a dead battery. Allegedly i was high on meth. No one i knew was picking up their phone, so I called a tow company in town around 3am. They wanted $60 but i only had $20. So since i was freezing did everything i could to get the voltage up like disconnecting the lights and stereo system, and any other electronics that might steal the power from the starter using a screwdriver that i had in my tool bag. I am a mechanic (which is also info i gave the officer) so its very typical for me to have some tools in my trunk. I got it to turn over a few times but just not enough power to fire. So now my last option was to push my car next to a building and plug in the battery charger into an outlet. While the battery was charging, I went to ask some people in a nearby business if they could give me a jump start,but none would help. Next thing i know its 5am and i see two cop cars pulled up. I waved to them and said in desperation "Is there anyway i can get a jump start?" The officer said "Stand over here" so i did and he me down and found the screwdriver on me. he asked what i was doing? i said ive been out here freezing trying to jump my car and used the screwdriver to disconnect some electronics. then he had me sit on the curb and he took a look in the open trunk around the car, and through the windows. he asked "Why diddnt you call a tow truck? i said "i did about an hour ago" then gave then the name of the place and the price of $60 that i didnt have, its all in the phone logs LOOK THROUGH MY PHONE.then they started questioning me about a robbery nearby i told about the few cars that i did see drive by but it was very obvious they went listening they wanted to search my car as my ex wife of all people pulled up to help jumpstart me. i said no i have tthe right to say no. i even pointed to the buisness where the people i had asked to help me were and said ask those people ive been right here trying to start my car. the officer told me that he knows that i used the screwdriver to break the buisnesses window and he can search my car weather i say yes or not. i said please just let me jumpstart my car my ex is hear to help. they said is there something in that car that you dont want her to see? i said yes, my new girlfriend is pregnant the ultrasound pics are on the front seat. (and they were). then i got more harassment and they said yea your high on something, you are stealing electricity from a buisness. and you have a baby on the way, and a screwdriver that you used to break in!!!!thats even more reason to rob a buisness. i still refused and they did a search without my permission. first looking through all me center console glove box backpack, then underneath a rag on the floor between the seats they found a little crystal meth on a mirror case, probly about $20 worth. then they said they were going to get a k-9 to search the rest of the car i said i had nothing!!!!! so i was arrested for ui and posession i have no priors no parole and i way cooperative with everything except the car search. they CONVINCED themselves that i broke into that buisness i gave them all the info :ie phone, records nearby witnesses, everything they needed to know i was telling the truth. i did everything they asked but would not let them search me car what can i do!!!!!!!! :nuts the buisness that was broken into was about a quarter mile away!!!!
 
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Around 9pm last night, I was stranded in my car with a dead battery. Allegedly i was high on meth.
Allegedly? So ... YOU do not know if you were high or not??

While the battery was charging, I went to ask some people in a nearby business if they could give me a jump start,but none would help.
What kind of business was open at 3 AM? Denny's? &/11? Circle K?

If you were high - or appeared to be so - perhaps the people at the business called your condition in to the cops.

then i got more harassment and they said yea your high on something, you are stealing electricity from a buisness.
Being high on a controlled substance is a crime as is theft of electricity. They could have arrested you right there for those offenses and then possibly towed your car. Pursuant to an impound, they could conduct an inventory of the vehicle - in other words, they could search it. If they searched prior to your arrest, the officer will have to articulate probable cause to believe their was evidence of stolen property inside the vehicle.

then underneath a rag on the floor between the seats they found a little crystal meth on a mirror case, probly about $20 worth.
Oops! Potential felony!

If you have no priors you may be eligible for diversion per Prop. 36 (PC 1000) to keep this off your record.

If you want to fight the whole thing, then speak to your attorney and hope for the best.
 
Wow CdW, you were able to read all that?

I have a newfound admiration for you. . . my head started pounding after a few lines. . .
 
I have to read tweak all the time. :)
 
:D funny guys:D
the buisness was a panera bread. Night shift was bakin' the goods. they just told me. "no we dont have jumper cables" i told em i did but they said they were to busy. The whole thing just sucks. i had a good reason to be stuck there with tools, but the cop was so convinced i was the robber, that he didnt listen to the things that i saw. like two cars speeding through the parking lot blowing through the stop sign infront of me. So instead of looking for the real criminals they bust a hard working taxpayer thats got a fucked up addiction. Oh well, "Do bad thing bad things happen." thank god for prop 36 to help people like me.
 
Sadly, Prop 36 does not have the best success rate. maybe it will work for you, but it will work only if you want it to. If you do not acknowledge you have a problem, you'll be using again soon enough.
 
I think the search of your car will hold up.
The officer's effort to connect you to a nearby burglary might be a stretch, but it sounds as if you were in a condition that was raising suspicions. If you were under the influence, your symptoms are likely more noticeable than you think. Also, since your car was hooked up to the business's electricity, they had reason to impound it (it was involved in a crime). I see a few ways that they could justify the search of your car... however it won't hurt to try and argue your point that you repeatedly denied permission. Put the burden on the officers to prove they did it right.
 
I understand the theft of services part. But that is not what they charged me for or accused me of. They never towed or impounded the car. After they realized I wasn't the one whoe robbed the store they asked me if I wanted someone to pick up the car. Then they rolled my windows up for me and left the car. I was shaking and rocking back and forth while they had me sitting on the curb, because it was about 50 degress and a had a thin sweater on with shorts and no socks. I kept telling them I was freezing. I wasn't told I was under arrest till later at the police station. I passed their sobriety test over and over. They got me on urine. They wasted a good two hours trying to convince me I robbed a store. There was about 6 cars there for a homeless guy that was trying to start his car. When they could have been searching for the cars I described.
 
All because they did not ultimately CHARGE you with the theft does not mean they can't use it for probable cause to make the arrest. Plus, if they believed you were under the influence, that is sufficient for an arrest, too.

Your attorney can review the police reports and evaluate it for the possibility of a suppression motion on the evidence seized from the car. The officers will have to justify the probable cause for the search ... and I can see several possible arguments, so I suspect it'll fly. But, who knows? The officers may not be able to articulate it properly.
 
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