California DUI Search & Seizure

san diego dui traffic stops: protecting your privacy

The 4th Amendment of the Constitution is intended to protect people against unreasonable searches, seizures, and invasions of privacy. Thus, there are established limits as to how far law enforcement can go if you are pulled over by police and suspected of drunk driving in California.

As your San Diego DUI attorney, our main priority is to defend you and your rights to the fullest extent possible, maximizing every opportunity to suppress evidence and nullify the case against you, with the goal of achieving an entire dismissal of your DUI case.

when can police search your vehicle, property & person?

Basically, if the police have probable cause to believe your actions or possessions pose an imminent threat or danger to others, they may override your right to privacy and search your person and automobile, or any other area within your control or reach. Probable cause is a key element that must be established for the search to be lawful.

As search & seizure laws pertain to DUI & police traffic stops, it is unlikely that police officers will go through the trouble of obtaining a search warrant based on the Supreme Court's recent rulings that the privacy concerns of a potential drunk driver should come secondary to the safety of the community IF police have probable cause to believe you are driving impaired or are concealing illegal items such as firearms, drugs, alcohol, stolen property, etc.

when is a search of your vehicle considered reasonable?

The US Supreme Court presents a two-part test to determine when a police search is lawful in the absence of a search warrant issued and signed by a judge.

a) Were you entitled to expect some degree of privacy given the situation, circumstances, and location?

b) Would a normal person or persons deem your expectation of privacy reasonable and not at the cost of a probable or likely threat or danger to society if not searched?

An example of the above might be a department store dressing room. A person trying on clothes in an enclosed cubicle designed for fitting should be able to expect the absence of surveillance cameras or observation while they are in a state of undress, so the expectation of privacy while undressing in an area designed to be private is reasonable and can be assumed by the average person. Conversely, a person driving through a sobriety checkpoint with an open container in plain view should not expect an obvious violation of law to go unacknowledged.

did your DUI arrest include a search of your vehicle?

In summary, there are four scenarios in which a police officer can legally search your vehicle:

1. You consent to a search by granting the officer your permission

2. The officer is able to establish and sustain probable cause, such as a substantiated belief that you are committing a crime and/or are a danger to society. An example of probable cause could be observing firearm bullets in the backseat of your vehicle, justifying a suspicion that you are unlawfully carrying a concealed weapon and are planning a serious crime that presents a danger to others.

3. The officer possesses a valid search warrant

4. You are under arrest and your vehicle is being impounded or inventoried for evidence

If evidence being used against you in a DUI case was illegally seized, please let our law office know as soon as possible. As your DUI attorney, we will exercise the "exclusionary rule" on your behalf. The purpose of the "exclusionary rule" in criminal law is to deter police from executing illegal searches by excluding any evidence garnered from unauthorized measures from being used to prosecute the case against you.