Q: Is a traffic stop resulting in charges valid if no citation for the moving violation is written?
My boyfriend was pulled over bc he almost fell asleep driving and swerved onto the shoulder pretty hard. An officer saw him do this. The vehicle was searched and drugs were found. He was not given a ticket or a written warning or anything for the reason he was stopped. Several people now have told us that without a written citation for the reason he was stopped the stop is not valid and the charge could get thrown out. Doesn't make sense but we want to know if there is any truth to this.
A:
No, what you are being told is not true. It is very common for a police officer to initiate a traffic stop based upon an observed traffic violation, but then to discover a more serious crime has been committed, such as a drug violation. It is very common that the police officer does not issue a traffic citation for a minor traffic violation is such circumstances. Issuing a citation could result in the perp's defense attorney having an opportunity to examine the police officer under oath in the traffic citation matter in order to learn information to use in defending the more serious case.
On the other hand, why was the vehicle searched? It is not common for police officers to conduct a search of a motor vehicle during a traffic stop. A police office can arrest a driver for illegal possession if the drugs are in "plain sight" at the time of the traffic stop. But the police officer needs "probable cause" or "extrinsic circumstances" to actually search the vehicle during a traffic stop.
The drug charge could be "thrown out" if the search was illegal, but not because the police officer didn't actually issue a traffic citation.
A: The stop is legal. Police do not have to give you a citation for the reason they initially stopped you if they find drugs in your car. Did you consent to the police searching the car or did the police smell pot. The police have to have PC to search your vehicle
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