Do the Police Need a Warrant to Search My Car?
In most instances, in order to perform a search, police officers need a warrant. However, one exception to the warrant requirement is the motor vehicle exception.
In 1925, the United States Supreme Court decided a case by the name of Carroll v United States. The US Supreme Court ruled that an officer is able to search a motor vehicle without a warrant if the officer has probable cause to believe that there is evidence of a crime or contraband located within the motor vehicle.
The reason for the exception is that the Supreme Court believed that there was a lower expectation of privacy in a motor vehicle because they are subject to a high number of regulations, and also because motor vehicles are inherently mobile, and therefore create a greater risk that the evidence could be removed from the scene and destroyed when the person drives off in the car.
This exception permits officers to search any area in the vehicle that they have probable cause to search and any container within the vehicle that they have probable cause to search, as a criminal lawyer can explain. This includes the trunk of a car, or items inside the vehicle, whether they belong to the owner or not. This might include things like backpacks, purses, suitcases, or other containers. The exception also applies to all types of motor vehicles, including cars, trucks, semi-trucks, and motor homes. It has also been held to apply to other types of vehicles, including trailers pulled by trucks, boats, houseboats, and airplanes.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that the police can simply search a motor vehicle any time they want. In order to be able to search the vehicle, there must be probable cause that there is evidence of a crime or contraband within the vehicle. If the police do not have probable cause to search, they cannot do so without a warrant.
Many times, when police officers lack probable cause to search a motor vehicle, they will try to get around this by obtaining consent from the driver of the vehicle. They will do this by asking whether the person will consent to a search of the motor vehicle. Often, people do not realize that they have a right to tell a police officer no when they request consent to search. If you are asked by a police officer for consent to search your vehicle, you should know that you have every right to say no, and that you should say no. You should say no to any request to search your motor vehicle, whether or not the vehicle contains evidence of a crime or contraband.
