At least they didn't give him an anal cavity search like at least two cases in southwestern NM following a traffic stop.
Unless Idaho is pulling over every vehicle from CO this lawsuit is bogus
Profiled for driving with Colorado plates?
5.56mm
Good thing he didn’t have his dog with him.
I detest the growing police state and it sound like this guys rights were PROBABLY violate, BUT... I am not sure.
Basically, a cop sits on the tail of a car with Colorado plates and then the driver starts acting suspiciously. That is a profiling all good cops do. Get you nervous and see how you react. If the driver had just kept going down the road at the same speed in the right lane, there isn’t a darn thing the cop could have done to him, legally. Instead, he acted in a suspicious manner, pulling off the highway.
Now, is that alone enough to warrant reasonable suspicion on the part of the cop? No, probably not. Cops make a lot of honest people nervous when sitting on their tail. A lot of people would probably pull over at some point just to see if the cop is really following them or just driving behind them.
I don’t really see this as the kind of jackbooted mentality that warrants my complaints like no knock raids and DUI checkpoints.
Cop intentionally makes the driver nervous to see what he will do. Driver blinks, and cop pursues because driver is acting like he has something to hide. Driver gives permission to search the vehicle, which was his mistake. He should have given no permission and asked if he was being arrested or detained or could go on his way. He never should have given permission, because there was no just cause for a search by the cop. But he gave his permission, and that allowed the cop to legally search.
I don’t think the driver has a leg to stand on, and I consider this good old fashioned policing, not jackbooted thuggery.
So flame away. Or tell me what I am missing in the story, because I don’t see an abuse of power by the cop here. I see hardball tactics making the driver nervous to see what he would do, and that’s all I see.
No you may not search my car. Am I under arrest? Am I free to go? What are the charges? No I do not waive my rights. Lawyer.
The claimed that he “smelled marijuana” was a lie and the officer knew it or he would not have asked to search.
Lesson to all, if a police office asks to search your vehicle, the answer is a very firm NO.
To add, I have a “Texas” liscense plate, and I keep a loaded pistol in the car with me at all times. Needless to say, I could anticipate problems were I to travel up to some northern, lib-infested state. I would expect to be targeted. And I’d expect to have legal problems in regards to having my pistol. My remedy is that I just completely and deliberately avoid traveling to any lib state. Even though there are some conventions as well as historical sites in those states that I’ve wanted to visit over the years. But I restrict my travels completely to conservative states.
Similarly, I would expect somebody from a dope-state like “Colorado” to realize they might very likely be targeted were they to visit some state where the druggie-lifestyle isn’t exactly welcomed.
Make my day, officer! Give me a fat bank account for my senior years.
Good thing he had no dog in the car.
I can confirm that most Idaho state police are pure scum.
Might be more than just the CO plates involved. If there was a potential asset forfeiture involved, it might have been a combination of CO plates and a really nice car.
An elderly man like that could have had a heart attack due to the aggressive behavior of the cop. I’d add in that legal suit something about his physical condition and the trauma he went through. Sue their butts off. This one really makes me mad.
Bad cop. Abused authority. Lied.
In our democratic-republic, the authority of any and all government agents to act for the purpose of enforcing our laws, comes from statutes made by our duly-elected legislatures.
Therefore, your actions as a law enforcement officer, are enumerated.
The mysticisms of many judges-in-robes, neither ends nor modifies that principle.
The bad and disgraceful artiface of too many cops, whereby they nudge a person into taking some action, such that the cop(s) *then* discover some reason for further baiting and goading ... is a course to police state tyranny.
The state trooper in this case, should be fired immediately with no chance for appeal. He can find something else to do, *lawfully.*
There is no room at all, for a failure of any state agent, to disrespect the principle that the public peace and trust rely upon government agents to do *only* that which our duly elected representatives enumerate.
I’ve been “stalked” when exiting a bar/restaurant parking lot after a meal and a pint, and given the “follow the pen with your eyes” test when I turned down a side street to see if I was being followed or was just paranoid (”evading, he said). Passed the test, but a PITA. Not much different I guess.
Memorize these sentences.
I have nothing to say!
I do not consent to searches!
Am I free to go or am I being detained?