Q: If your car is searched based on false claims about the smell of marijuana; can you get charged with anything else found
I was pulled over because my tags were 3 days expired. Officers claimed to smell marijuana in my vehicle. Asked if they could search, I said no, not without getting the dogs. They physically pulled me out of the vehicle, searched me, did not handcuff me as of yet. During the search, officer found a methpipe containing meth residue. The pipe was in a backpack located in the back seat. My backpack.
After field testing the pipe, the officer claims it came up positive for THC, not meth. However, i am being charged with possession of a controled substance, meth. During the search, nothing else was found. No Marijuana, no papers, nothing at all that would even suggest that marijuana had ever been smoked in car or that I smoke pot.
Does the forbidden fruit scenario apply here? Or would Arizona vs Gant Supreme Court rulling fall into play? Please advise. Thank you.....
A: You are correct. If there was no legal basis for the search. The evidence obtained as a result of the illegal search is inadmissible in court and would be considered the so called fruits of the poisonous tree.
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