Can a Car Be Towed From a Person's Driveway?
Full Question:
Answer:
Yes, it is possible. The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, housed in the Bill of Rights, gives citizens of the country the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizures:
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
Once the vehicle has pulled to the side of the road, the Fourth Amendment permits the officer to search the vehicle's interior, including the glove compartment. However, the trunk of a vehicle cannot be searched unless the officer has probable cause to believe that it contains contraband or the instrumentalities of criminal activity. Like a search incident to arrest, once a vehicle has been lawfully impounded, its contents may be inventoried without a warrant, including the contents of the trunk.
Traffic stops based on reasonable suspicion are investigatory stops under Terry v. Ohio. Stops based on reasonable suspicion may be likely to be challenged by a defendant than stops based on probable cause.
Some of the most common ways allowed for officers to search/frisk a vehicle without a search warrant include:
• Abandoned Vehicles.
• Plain View.
• Consent.
• Inspection.
• Search During Temporary Questioning.
• Incident to Arrest.
• Probable Cause.
• Inventory Searches.
For an officer to search a vehicle with the consent of the person in control of the vehicle, the consent must be voluntarily, freely, and knowingly given. To prove voluntary consent, the consent must be unequivocal and specific, and freely and knowingly given. Consent must be given without duress or coercion, express or implied.
A traffic officer, or person authorized to enforce non-moving traffic violations may use reasonable means to gain access to a vehicle if that vehicles identification number can not be read, such as where the identification number has been removed, altered, or obliterated or made impossible to read.
A vehicle may be searched during temporary questioning, when certain articulable facts are present. In order to justify a protective sweep of a vehicle, an officer must have a reasonable fear that he/she is in danger. For example, in one case, when officers approached a vehicle during an investigation of possible drug dealing, and the driver's hand was hidden from view, the officer was found justified in conducting a protective search of the passenger compartment, since the suspect may have dropped a weapon in the car that would present a danger to the officers
Some of the factors that may be considered in justifying a protective sweep of a vehicle, among others, include:
-Reason for the stop.
-Furtive movement by the driver and whether the officer sought any explanations of such movements.
-Officer to subject ratios
-Whether the officer intended tolet the driver return to the vehicle after the encounter was over or the officer intended to eventually arrest the driver.
-Number of persons in the stopped vehicle.
-The time of day or night and the lighting conditions.
-The position of the squad car and the other vehicle and were the officers in a particularly vulnerable position in relation to the person or persons in the car.
-Odd or unusual behavior by the driver.
-Whether the driver or passenger(s) attempted to flee.
-Unusual indications of nervousness by occupants of the vehicle
-Indications of alcohol or drugs.
-Whether the area is a high crime area.
