Respect for law enforcement is diminished when an officer seeks to justify a stop for a reason shown to be false. Subsequent investigation proved that the stopped car had nothing but factory tint. Prosecutors, wisely, dropped charges on 1/20/16, rather than dispute the evidence from a defense expert concluding that the trooper’s “reason” for the stop was imaginary, confabulated and inconsistent with a citizen’s right to remain free from unreasonable search and seizures. Thanks to Florida Turnpike Drug Arrest Lawyer Jeffrey Garland

The trooper initiated the stop on Florida’s Ronald Reagan Turnpike on 10/15/15, at about 5:31 P.M. The given reason for the stop was “dark tint”.

The trooper would subsequently find a whopping 2.61 grams of cannabis in the underwear of the front seat passenger. An additional “stash” of 1.43 grams was found in the trunk.

The trooper charged the two female college students in the back seat for “possession”, although there was no evidence of their ability to access or control the contraband. The two male college students in the front driver and passenger seats had been promised that they would not go to jail if they cooperated.

The trooper saw fit to award all four occupants notices to appear for possession under 20 grams of cannabis. Technically, the college students were arrested – although they were not transported to jail.

Florida Turnpike Drug Arrest Lawyer  Garland was retained to represent two of the college students, the young women in the back seat of the car. The two front seat college students, young men, retained separate attorneys. All the attorneys worked together to expose the truth, i.e.: that the stop was improper. There was no tint other than ordinary factory tint which was well within lawful limits.

Comment

This case shows that not all police stops are well-founded. The police must have a lawful basis to initiate a stop.

In this case, the truth of no dark tint was brought to light. All charges were dropped.