Three Things You Should Know When Drugs Are Found In Your Car
Do you know that you can be arrested and charged with drug possession when drugs are found in your car, even if you didn't know they were there in the first place? If you are ever arrested due to the presence of drugs in your car, then you should have these three things in mind:
Probable Cause Interpretation Differs
You have probably heard that the police need a probable cause to arrest you on drug charges if drugs are found in your car. This is generally true, but the problem is that probably cause is a term with many different interpretations, even within the same jurisdiction.
For example, it can be taken to mean that there is probable cause if:
- You are in control of the vehicle (for example, you are the one who borrowed it from your parents for your weekend trip).
- The officers used the wing-span interpretation, which means that you are in control of everything in the car within your reach. For a small car, this can mean pretty much every part of the car.
Therefore, just because the drugs weren't on your person, and the police need probable cause to arrest you, it doesn't mean that they will not arrest you for drugs in your back seat.
The Police Are Not Your Friends
Another thing you should know is that the police may act friendly in a bid to make you confess possession of the drugs. They may even encourage you to confess that the drugs aren't yours, but that you knew your friends had them. Confessions make their case easy because they don't have to invest a lot of resources in investigations. However, this will only benefit them, but not you.
Merely Denying Ownership of the Drugs Will Not Work
Prosecutors hear the "the drugs were someone else's" excuse all the time. This is one of the default defense statements people make when caught with drugs, even if the drugs are clearly theirs. If prosecutors or law enforcement officers took this claim seriously every time it was uttered, then many drug cases would never make it to trial. Therefore, don't expect to make this claim and go free, even if it is true.
All this means that you need to note down all the facts of your case and consult a criminal defense lawyer, like Elgart Ronald H. Even if the police do succeed in linking you to the drugs, your lawyer can still help by getting you a reduced sentence or even suppressing illegally obtained evidence.