Twin Falls, ID asked in Civil Rights and Criminal Law for Idaho

Q: Someone handed a police officer possession of drug paraphernalia and said it was mine. Is that legal?

The cop asked to search my car, I said no my dad just did for 30 mins and found nothing. My mom pulls up along with my ex husband. Cop is off to the side talking to ex & magically my mom pulls out paraphernalia "from my car" in 10 seconds and starts going crazy. Ex says "Its my name on the title, search the car!" Another 30 min. search with nothing found. The cop didn't actually find the paraphernalia in my car...or see my mom "get it out of my car", she just ran up to him and said "look!!!" She was demanding I be arrested immediately, but the cop said all he could do was write me a misdemeanor citation/ticket. The ticket said if I choose to plead guilty, call this number & a pay a fine. If I choose to plead not guilty, show up to court on this date.

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1 Lawyer Answer

A: First of all, if you would use a few commas, and periods, in your question, if would be much easier to decipher what you're asking. However, let me see if I can restate what your question is: you were pulled over, while driving your father's vehicle? Officer asks your permission to search, you say "no." While this is going on, your ex-husband and mother drive up. The police officer begins conversing with your ex-husband and mother, when suddenly, your mother (who must have gotten out of the car she was in, and accesses the car you were in, long enough to plant evidence in it), comes up with drug paraphernalia and then your ex-husband then begins yelling, "her name is on the title, search her car," while your mother then holds up the paraphernalia and says, "look" while presumably holding up some kind of drug paraphernalia, that your mother had both surreptitiously planted in your car, after your father searched it earlier for a 1/2 hour? IS THIS WHAT HAPPENED?

IF this is what happened, then the "criminal case," will likely go NOWHERE, because:

1. The officer was overwhelmed by the sheer number of individuals who happened along when he pulled you over, and failed to observe you mother, get out of the ex-husband's vehicle and run over and open the car you were in and throw drug paraphernalia into it. This set of facts is bizarre, and most prosecutors will not charge this, unless mother can explain why she thought you might have paraphernalia and then magically comes up with something, after her ex-husband had (for some reason) just gotten through searching the same car you were in, for thirty (30) minutes.

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