SPECIAL REPORT:
Mistakes the police make . . . and how they can help you:
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- Entering someone's home without a warrant or an invitation. Your home is protected under the fourth amendment, and without a warrant or your consent police officer must have probable cause to believe you have committed a crime and exigent circumstances (an emergency) must exist which justifies the officer entering the home without obtaining a warrant.
- Stopping a vehicle solely on the basis of an anonymous call. If an officer stops your vehicle based solely on the report of an anonymous caller it may be an illegal seizure. The U.S. Constitution requires that an officer have a reasonable articulable suspicion that you are violating the law before you can be stopped/seized. The information provided by the anonymous caller may or may not be sufficient to justify the stop of your vehicle.
- Stopping a vehicle without an articulable reasonable suspicion. A Virginia police officer can not stop you on a hunch or just because he thinks you are suspicious. The officer must be able to articulate specific facts which lead to the reasonable suspicion that you are driving under the influence or violating some other law or ordinance.
- Stopping a vehicle for weaving within a lane. The law requires that an officer have a reasonable suspicion that you are violating a law before your vehicle may be stopped. What the officer will describe as weaving within a single lane is not a violation of law and may not provide a sufficient basis for you to be stopped.
- Stopping a vehicle based on a mistaken belief that you were violating the law. Officers are responsible for knowing what the law is. If an officer stops your vehicle because he thought what you were doing was illegal when in fact it was not, it is an illegal stop.
- Failing to follow the procedures set forth in the Intoxilyzer operation manual. These failures may invalidate any alcohol testing.
- Stopping a vehicle at an improper roadblock. Because roadblocks allow police to stop motorists without the reasonable suspicion which is normally required, there are specific rules about how roadblocks must be conducted.
- Stopping a vehicle just to check the driver's license and registration. You may not be stopped by the police based on a hunch. In order for the police to stop your vehicle they must have a reasonable suspicion that you have violated some law. If not, it is an illegal seizure.
- Stopping a vehicle without being able to identify it as the one actually committing a traffic infraction. Officers must be able to convince the Court that they stopped the right car. If not, it is an illegal seizure.
- Blocking a vehicle's exit without justification. The law says that blocking a vehicle's path is a seizure, just like if the police had pulled you over, and in order to validly do so the police must have a reasonable suspicion that you are violating the law. If the path of your vehicle has been blocked by the police and the police did not have a reasonable suspicion that you were violating the law, it is an illegal seizure.
- Detaining a driver longer than is reasonable to investigate. Officers are constitutionally permitted to briefly detain you in order to investigate a reasonable suspicion that you are involved in criminal activity. However, if he detains you for an unreasonable period of time it becomes an unconstitutional seizure and any evidence acquired during the unconstitutional seizure will be suppressed.
- Arresting someone for DUI without probable cause. A Virginia police officer must have probable cause to believe that a person is driving under the influence of alcohol, driving with a BAC of .08 or more, or driving under the influence of drugs to a degree that he cannot operate the vehicle safely before he can arrest that person for DUI.
- Basing an arrest on the statements of the driver alone. The officer must have independent evidence to corroborate these statements. This often arises when he has not seen you in physical control of your car.
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Fairfax VA, Loudoun VA, Manassas VA, Prince William County VA, Fauquier County VA, Warrenton VA
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