Quote:
Originally Posted by TribalElder
Lawyer will probably prove taillight was not out
which makes the stop illegal
which erases the bag that the nosey cop happened to see inside of
which then removes the "uzi"
something like that
Keep in mind that California is full of worthless gun laws that are just dumb. One of my typical carry pistols that shoots 410 shells would be considered a sawed off shotgun out there, super illegal.
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That is generally the first thing the defense lawyer will look at: was the stop good. That will depend upon the evidence, which includes what the cop says and anything else to support it, such as maybe a dash-cam.
If the dash-cam shows Clark speeding down the highway at excessive speeds, the court is likely to uphold the stop. If the video contradicts the police officer, the court is like to find the stop to be a bad stop and anything from the stop is not allowed to be introduced into evidence.
The Supreme Court ruled in 1994 in a case called Whren v US that the subjective intentions of the cop do not matter as long as there is a valid reason to stop the car. So if a cop follows a black guy in a car long enough for that guy to change lanes without signalling, then the stop is valid even if the cop is just looking for a reason to stop the car. That applies in federal cases. Not all states follow that. I have not practiced in California in 25 years so I don't know if that's the law in California or not. Put another way, California might not have that as a rule in the state courts so if you can show that the cop's reason to stop was something other than the purported reason, you might be able to get the evidence suppressed.
Then there's the argument about whether the cop could really see what he claimed to see. It's one thing to say the cop could not see the firearm but another thing to prove it. If the cop saw what he claims, and if the cop was smart, he had Clark get out of the car, he cuffed Clark 'for officer safety,' and then took photographs of the bag before removing the firearm. That is the protocol. If the cop did not follow it, then you've got to wonder why.