Q: I received 2 tickets and a warning. I was not in the vehicle. I was at home sleeping. What do I do?
My son was pulled over with a friend in my car. The cop ask for his registration proof of insurance and licence. My son gave home his licence and the vehicle registration. He couldn't find the proof of insurance. The cop said that ok they can look it up. He then asked my son if they could search his car? He asked why he was pulled over and the cop said well get to that. He then asked if the could search the car. My son told the cop he does not give concent to search the car. The cop asked why? You got something to hide. My son said absolutely not. The cop said then why wont you let me search your car? My son said because it it my constitutional right and you ha e no probable cause. The cop took his licence and registration back to his cruiser. After 25 minutes or more harassing about wanting to search the car and my son said no, he was issued 2 civil infractions. Both tickets we assigned to me. The warning was for licence plate light not working... which it is fine.
A: You did not mention the specific citations that were issued. However, most infractions, including defective equipment violations are issued to the driver, not the owner. It is an infraction to drive a vehicle that does not comply, not to own one. There are citations that can be issued to an owner based upon the owner's allowing another to drive. I recommend that you contact an attorney and request a formal hearing on the citations. You may also consider filing a FOIA request for a copy of the officer's vehicle mounted video or body cam, and if the delay and harassment are as your son says, and there isn't something else going on that he did not tell you, you may wish to bring the matter up to the officer's supervisor. Most police are professionals and would not approve of a 25 minute delay to coerce a search.
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