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traffic stop Tag

25 April
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What Happens During a Typical Traffic Stop?

Posted by Clint
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What Happens During a Typical Traffic Stop?

During a typical traffic stop, the police try to develop probable cause to arrest you, search your vehicle, or issue you a citation. Here is the usual sequence of events during a traffic stop. Getting Pulled Over First, the police officer or sheriff “pulls over” someone’s vehicle by flashing the police car’s lights, turning on the siren, and/or speaking over the loudspeaker. At this point the driver should pull over to the side of the road, or risk appearing like he is going to flee the scene. The police officer pulls over too, usually parking behind the driver’s vehicle. Then the officer...

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12 February
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Did the Police Officer Pull You Over Illegally?

Posted by Clint
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Did the Police Officer Pull You Over IllegallyDid the Police Officer Pull You Over Illegally?

In a DUI case, lawyers sometimes can build a defense because the police illegally pulled over the driver. If the judge buys the argument that the traffic stop was illegal, all evidence gathered during the stop is inadmissible in court. Here are some common reasons that stops are against the law. No Reasonable Suspicion or Probable Cause for the Traffic Stop or Arrest Unless you are in a special situation such as a DUI checkpoint, the police officer who pulls you over must have either reasonable suspicion or probable cause for the stop. Reasonable suspicion exists if the officer has an...

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22 January
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Should You Take a Breathalyzer Test at a Traffic Stop?

Posted by Clint
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Should You Take a Breathalyzer Test at a Traffic Stop?

When you are pulled over in a traffic stop by a police officer, you may wonder if you should take a breathalyzer test or if you should refuse the test. This is a tricky question that depends on your feelings about the consequences of refusal. Implied Consent Law For many years, Oklahoma has had an implied consent law for refusing a BAC (blood alcohol concentration) test such as a breathalyzer or blood test. If you are driving a vehicle on public roads or if you are in actual physical control of such a vehicle, then you impliedly give consent to take a...

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13 April
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Passengers’ Rights at Traffic Stops

Posted by Clint
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Passengers’ Rights at Traffic Stops

Passengers in a car pulled over at a traffic stop are in a sticky position. They are not operating the vehicle, so they cannot be arrested for DUI or cited for traffic infractions. When law enforcement pulls a car over, passengers may not know what to do. Can the police order a passenger to stay in the car or get out of the car? Yes, courts have concluded that police can either order passengers to stay in or get out of the car during a traffic stop. Reasoning centers on concern for police officers’ safety and need to exercise control over everyone...

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02 April
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How Cops Find Drugs During Traffic Stops

Posted by Clint
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How Cops Find Drugs During Traffic Stops

A person pulled over for suspected DUI or another driving offense may find himself in more trouble if police search the vehicle. If law enforcement finds evidence of another crime, such as illegal drugs, in the vehicle, they can charge you with that crime too. A simple traffic infraction could escalate to much more serious criminal charges. Usually, police need a warrant to search cars. During traffic stops, however, they can search vehicles without a warrant for several reasons. First, police may search a vehicle incident to a driver’s arrest. Often this type of search is legally permitted because police reasonably...

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14 March
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Custodial Interrogation During Traffic Stops

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Custodial Interrogation During Traffic Stops

The question of when custodial interrogation starts during traffic stops has challenged courts for many years. Choosing a definite rule as to when someone is in custody affects the timing of Miranda warnings. If a police officer waits too long to read Miranda warnings during a stop, the driver can challenge admissibility in court of any statements he makes after the stop becomes custodial but before the warnings are read. In one of many attempts to determine when “custodial interrogation” begins, the Supreme Court considered the case of Berkemer v. McCarty, 468 U.S. 420 (1984). In the case, a state police...

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12 January
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Police Officers’ Authority to Extend Oklahoma Traffic Stops

Posted by Clint
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Police Officers’ Authority to Extend Oklahoma Traffic Stops

A close look at Oklahoma case law shows that police officers have wide authority to extend traffic stops at will. The leading Court of Criminal Appeals opinion, Seabolt v. State, 152 P.3d 235, 2006 OK CR 50, states that police officers must have reasonable, articulable suspicion to extend a traffic stop beyond the typical formalities. In Seabolt, the court evaluated the particular stop at issue under a totality of the circumstances approach, meaning it looked at everything that happened to determine whether the officer initiating the stop had a reasonable suspicion that a crime had been committed. To the contrary, the...

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11 December
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Use of Police Dogs at Traffic Stops

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Use of Police Dogs at Traffic Stops

During traffic stops, police sometimes use K-9 dogs to sniff for drugs or other illegal substances. Two key Supreme Court cases have evaluated how far police may go in their use of dogs at roadside stops. In the first case, Illinois v. Caballes, 543 U.S. 405 (2005), the court considered whether using a drug dog at the scene of a roadside stop was an unreasonable search. The drug dog alerted at the scene, leading to the defendant’s arrest for marijuana trafficking. While the Illinois Supreme Court said that the search was unreasonable, the Supreme Court disagreed, determining that police did not...

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29 November
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Should I Resist an Illegal Traffic Stop?

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Should I Resist an Illegal Traffic Stop?

If you have ever been pulled over by a police officer, you may have wondered whether you should resist a truly illegal traffic stop. An Oklahoma appeals court found that drivers must submit to even obviously bogus stops by the police. In State v. Nelson, 2015 OK CR 10 (2015), the driver made a left-hand turn into a parking lot. The road was deserted and there were no cars in sight, except the police officer’s hidden patrol car. The officer pulled over the driver for failure to signal. He tried to write the driver a ticket, and the driver started walking...

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27 October
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How Police Spot Drunk Drivers

Posted by Clint
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How Police Spot Drunk Drivers

Police patrolling the roadways spot drunk drivers by observing their driving patterns and watching for telltale signs of intoxication during traffic stops. Signs of Intoxication While Driving First, law enforcement officers look for signs of intoxication or impairment while a driver is operating a vehicle. These signs may include reckless driving, weaving in a lane or in and out of multiple lanes, nearly striking an object or vehicle, going left of center, driving into opposing or crossing traffic, driving too slowly, driving with inconsistent speed, slow response to traffic signals, failure to signal, turning abruptly or illegally, braking erratically, or stopping for...

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