Serious question for lawyers about the facts as we know them

[MikeHamiltonFan]

Any chance for fruit of the poisonous tree? Cop claims he smelled pot on them, that is why he called for K9. There was no probable cause to search the car. They were speeding, but the gun was not discovered until after an arrest was made, and the arrest was predicated on the pot. He gets a drug dog out there because they refuse to be searched? How does he smell pot but they cannot even find a roach in the ash trey? Did they eat it super troopers style? Throw it out the window?

[GahLee]

Thought they found drugs on Williams? This is not some conspiracy man...a cop will ask to search the car if he deems a reason to do so, that or he is a jerk. You can refuse, it's your right but that in turn gives them probable cause...better off just being honest and not make them do more work than have to.

Altered serial numbers are a big deal, would be shocked if FED charges didn't get brought up.

[Goliver24]

Originally Posted by MikeHamiltonFan

Any chance for fruit of the poisonous tree? Cop claims he smelled pot on them, that is why he called for K9. There was no probably cause to search the car. They were speeding, that is all he knew. He gets a drug dog out there because they refuse to be searched? How does he smell pot but they cannot even find a roach in the ash trey? Did they eat it super troopers style? Throw it out the window?

He found a bag of weed in BW's backpack that had his name on it....

[GahLee]

Originally Posted by Goliver24

He found a bag of weed in BW's backpack that had his name on it....

That belonged to a different B. Williams...perhaps the news anchor?

[VolsSportsFan]

Originally Posted by MikeHamiltonFan

Any chance for fruit of the poisonous tree? Cop claims he smelled pot on them, that is why he called for K9. There was no probably cause to search the car. They were speeding, that is all he knew. He gets a drug dog out there because they refuse to be searched? How does he smell pot but they cannot even find a roach in the ash trey? Did they eat it super troopers style? Throw it out the window?

Yes because the roach HAS to be there for you to be able to smell pot after it's been smoked.

[MikeHamiltonFan]

Originally Posted by VolsSportsFan

Yes because the roach HAS to be there for you to be able to smell pot after it's been smoked.

They found a baggy. They did not find a bong, or a quick hitter or anything of the sort. They always try to tack on paraphernalia if they can.

Brian Williams should take the hit for the pot, and the alcohol. Then constructive possession will be dropped for everyone else, and all you have to deal with is the guns.

[m37bruno]

Did they have a proper warrant to search the car? Or did they just call the drug dog? You have 15 min to be detained unless there is an arrest happening but I thought you needed a warrant to search a house or car??

[MphsBlues]

An Ole Miss grad revealed our 'real' problem to me today. He said "You all need to train your police better! At Ole Miss they just dump the kids on the coach's doorstep when this happens." Makes sense to me...

[bburger991]

They can search a car with reasonable cause IIRC.

[atlvol1]

I'm not sure about all the details, but taking what you said in the OP as true, here are my thoughts:
A cop doesn't need probable cause to call a drug dog to a car. All he needs is to have the dog there by the time he finishes up his "investigation" of the vehicle (i.e. talking to the passengers, running a driver's license check, etc.). On the other hand, he can't unreasonably delay his investigation in order to give the drug dog time to get there.

Refusing to consent to a search does not give a cop probable cause to search your car. If a cop used that as an excuse, anything he found would be inadmissible.

Once the arrests are made, the cops are free to tow your car to the police impound and search it, regardless of what the arrests are for. But if the cop was unreasonable in his investigation, either by wrongly claiming probable cause or by unnecessarily delaying in order to give the dog more time to get there, then the guns would probably be inadmissible as fruit of the poisonous tree.

If the weed was in BW's backpack, it's conceivable that he could take all the blame for it. And if it was stashed somewhere in the car (glove compartment, trunk, etc.) it's conceivable that Tatum (the driver) could take all the blame for it.

Having an open container in a car is not illegal in Tennessee. Unless the laws of Knox County have changed since I left, the only reason this would be an issue is if the cop thought Tatum was the one drinking out of it.

Of course, Bruce knows there were two guns in the car, so a bunch of legal technicalities might not keep these guys on the team.

Anyway, I think that stuff is correct, but once you pass the bar exam most of the information goes straight out of your brain.

[Heebs]

If it was good pot then it doesn't have to be smoked to be smelled.

[timmy]

Originally Posted by MikeHamiltonFan

They found a baggy. They did not find a bong, or a quick hitter or anything of the sort. They always try to tack on paraphernalia if they can.

Brian Williams should take the hit for the pot, and the alcohol. Then constructive possession will be dropped for everyone else, and all you have to deal with is the guns.

So you want someone to take the blame for 3 others, just for the sake of the basketball season?

[SGMVols]

Originally Posted by bburger991

They can search a car with reasonable cause IIRC.

Yes.

[Freak]

The way I heard it today, and someone can correct me if this is wrong, the K-9 sniffing positive for drugs is what allowed them to search the car.

I'm not sure what type of probable cause they need in order to call a K-9.

[jeremyinitalia]

I think Mr. Hodari D had a little too much to drink at the Aurora Tap Tavern with this thread