Legal Question in Criminal Law in Pennsylvania

traffic stop

i got pulled over by a city police officer when he came to my window he told me he smelled pot and began to search my car and found nothing now my question is did he say he smelled pot as a form of probable cause or can that be used as probable cause to search i didnt get a ticket just a drive more carful suggestion from him


Asked on 11/20/06, 1:56 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Brian Zeiger Levin & Zeiger LLP

Re: traffic stop

Did you get a ticket? If so, what does the ticket say? Does the ticket have anything to do with the search/smell of the car?

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Answered on 11/20/06, 2:44 pm
Charles A. Pascal, Jr. Law Office of Charles A. Pascal, Jr.

Re: traffic stop

Smelling pot can create probable cause to search. Meaning, that it creates probable cause for the police officer to ASK for consent to search the car. If you refuse...and you ALWAYS should refuse consent...it may be probable cause to get a search warrant.

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Answered on 11/27/06, 10:08 pm


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