WilCoTexas
New Member
A week ago I was stopped by a police officer at around 11:30p for my license plate light being out. Search of persons and vehicle soon followed and they recovered marijuana, and cocaine. I have a few questions pertaining to the legality of the STOP, and to whether or not this is a dismissable case.
The police officer and myself are the only two cars on this long, straight stretch of road in Cedar Park, TX. The officer was originally traveling the opposite direction when he then pulled a U-turn and got behind me. He proceeded to follow me for 6 blocks, wait for me to make a turn, then pull me over. I was not speeding, not under the influence, not swirving, and otherwise gave this officer no reason to pull me over. He then tells me the reason that he pulled me over was for a non-functioning license light, which I found out WAS fully functional. My thought is that he ran my plates to see if I had a record, saw a drug paraphernalia ticket I got a year and a half ago, and decided to pull me over based on that..and the fact that he probably figured that anyone out at 11:30 on a weeknight is up to no good (this is not a viable reason to pull me over is it?). He then asked me to step out and searched me for weapons because it "smelled like marijuana" in the car (I've never smoked marijuana in the car). He found a bag of marijuana in my pocket, then proceeded to handcuff me, put me in the cop car, and search the rest of my vehicle (uncovering a total of a 1.5 grams of marijuana, and half a gram of cocaine). I assume that the actual search of me and my car WAS legal, due to the fact that he actually found it on ME before searching the vehicle, even though I gave no consent to either. I'm wondering whether the actual STOP was legal or not...seeing as how he had no actual reason for pulling me over since the light was functional.
I remember from school that the burden of proof is on the state, so if I contest that it was an Illegal stop, doesn't the police officer have to prove that he had a reason to pull me over?
This is the worst county to get drug charges in, in Texas, if not the nation, so even if it is an illegal stop...what do you think would be the chances of actually getting this dismissed?
I haven't met personally with my lawyer yet or retained him, but he seems kind and intelligent. This is my first felony offence, and first drug offense besides the paraphernalia which was just a ticket, and I was very cooperative with the officers, even though I was a little confused as to where my rights went.
Please help!
The police officer and myself are the only two cars on this long, straight stretch of road in Cedar Park, TX. The officer was originally traveling the opposite direction when he then pulled a U-turn and got behind me. He proceeded to follow me for 6 blocks, wait for me to make a turn, then pull me over. I was not speeding, not under the influence, not swirving, and otherwise gave this officer no reason to pull me over. He then tells me the reason that he pulled me over was for a non-functioning license light, which I found out WAS fully functional. My thought is that he ran my plates to see if I had a record, saw a drug paraphernalia ticket I got a year and a half ago, and decided to pull me over based on that..and the fact that he probably figured that anyone out at 11:30 on a weeknight is up to no good (this is not a viable reason to pull me over is it?). He then asked me to step out and searched me for weapons because it "smelled like marijuana" in the car (I've never smoked marijuana in the car). He found a bag of marijuana in my pocket, then proceeded to handcuff me, put me in the cop car, and search the rest of my vehicle (uncovering a total of a 1.5 grams of marijuana, and half a gram of cocaine). I assume that the actual search of me and my car WAS legal, due to the fact that he actually found it on ME before searching the vehicle, even though I gave no consent to either. I'm wondering whether the actual STOP was legal or not...seeing as how he had no actual reason for pulling me over since the light was functional.
I remember from school that the burden of proof is on the state, so if I contest that it was an Illegal stop, doesn't the police officer have to prove that he had a reason to pull me over?
This is the worst county to get drug charges in, in Texas, if not the nation, so even if it is an illegal stop...what do you think would be the chances of actually getting this dismissed?
I haven't met personally with my lawyer yet or retained him, but he seems kind and intelligent. This is my first felony offence, and first drug offense besides the paraphernalia which was just a ticket, and I was very cooperative with the officers, even though I was a little confused as to where my rights went.
Please help!
