When police pull you over, there must be a valid reason for the stop and probable cause for any subsequent search. If the police simply pull you over because of your race or because they saw you leaving a bar, that is not a valid reason. An attorney will examine any police stop and make sure that it was legal. If it can be shown that the police were pulling you over for an invalid reason, the charges against you could be dropped.
Understanding “Cherry Picking”
One common way for police to target drivers is to sit outside a bar and wait for closing time. They will then pull cars over as they leave and give the driver a field sobriety test. This is sometimes called “cherry picking” and it is illegal. Simply leaving a bar is not at all proof of intoxication.
For a police stop to be valid, they would need a violation such as:
- Speeding
- Weaving within the lane
- Broken taillight
- Following too closely
If the police observed one of those infractions, the traffic stop would be valid. They would still need probable cause to search you or the vehicle. If you think your rights have been violated by the police, our lawyers will make sure that police are held to strict standards of the law.
