> In certain situations police are obligated to return everything to your specifications.
I've never heard of any law requiring anything of the sort. Supposing that the cop broke something or throwing it in the dirt ruined it you would have to file a lawsuit against the city, county, or state. The lawsuit would cost you a bundle and cops are very prone to lying and covering for each other. Cops know that this is the situation and they OFTEN abuse the situation.
> I also had a bad feeling that after receiving the written consent and everything was on the up and up they would possibly plant something.
You are very wise to have suspected this, it does happen. It's another good reason to NEVER CONSENT TO A SEARCH.
> I am in no place to judge you but some of these comments make me question how much real legal experience you have.
Ask NORML, ACLU, any lawyer, etc. they will ALL tell you to never consent to a search. I'm amazed that anyone would argue against me.
Time and time again we read stories of busts in this forum, and almost all of them happen because a minor traffic violation gets them pulled over and then they consent to a search. Every time I read that I marvel at how stupid they were. Most of them could have just said no and been on their way, instead they consented to a search while sitting on 10 years worth of drugs.
There are a few circumstances where you should consent to a search, but they are very few and far between. The ONLY time you should consent to a search is when they are going to search anyway. That usually happens when you have no DL, expired registration, or some other situation where they have the right to tow and impound your car.
Your false belief of "If I'm nice to the cop he'll be cool to me," is total bullshit and shows a very poor understanding of the law.
You have a right against unreasonable search and seizure. When you give up that right you've just fucked yourself in a number of ways.
They can and will tear your car apart for hours, when you could have just been on your way. The attitude of "Only criminals who have something to hide don't consent," is also wrong. Anyone with much experience with the law will refuse a search.
Simply say no and they'll let you go. If they don't you've just won your case if they end up busting you. If you say yes you've just given up all your rights and they will fuck you any way they can. You'll also have no chance of winning your case.
There is NO advantage to saying yes. You'll be detained much longer, your shit will get tossed, and if they find anything you're fucked. People only consent because they are intimidated and bullied into it, they give in because they don't have the balls to stand up for their rights, never because there's any legal advantage to it.
Believe me I've had the worst cops demanding to search and threatening me. Because I refused to consent I saved myself a possession charge.
The situation was pretty funny looking back at it now. I was down by the river and a cop spied us from a good overlook spot. We were rolling up a joint using a fluorescent light I hung from the review mirror. He couldn't see exactly what we were doing, but he knew we were doing something illegal.
So he pulls up behind me, blocking me in. My buddy stashed the weed just under the passenger seat. The cop ran all my shit and then questioned me for a bit. Then he said "I'm just going to search your car now," and started walking towards it. I said "No your not going to search my car."
At this he immediately got visibly mad. Anyways, we argued for a bit. Then he made up a bullshit story about a gunshot coming from this direction. I told him that I'd been sitting there for the last half hour with my window down and there was no gunshot. Then my buddy chimed in that "I bet if we checked the dispatch log there wouldn't be anything about a gunshot." This made the cop so mad that I thought he was going to blow out a blood vessel or have a heart attack.
He continued to argue, saying that he put a 10:00 curfew on the public property down by the river. I replied that it was only 9:50. He told me that I had to let him search. My buddy chimed in that he was a law student (he wasn't) and started talking about the constitution and the bill of rights, etc..
The cop actually had the balls to say "The bill of rights and the constitution don't matter right here, right now." He then started telling us that we were pieces of shit for obstructing the law and that we could end up left in a ditch somewhere and nothing would happen to him. He even suggested that had actually happened to people before. He ended up actually shoving my buddy a few times.
Anyways, another cop arrived and the situation settled down a little bit. They both walked around the car about 5-6 times shining their maglights inside. Then he told me that he was going to have me towed away and my car impounded, and that they would do an "inventory search" anyways, so I should just let him search.
I told him that he had no reason to have my car towed. It was parked on public property, there was no curfew, and it wasn't even past his bullshit made-up curfew. He fucked around for a bit and made like he was going to call a tow truck. I finally said "Go ahead and search, I don't give you my consent but you've threatened me and told me you are going to search anyways and illegally charge me towing and impound fees, so go ahead and do whatever you're going to do. But for the record I don't consent to any search."
He walked around my car one more time then told me "Next time a cop wants to search just let him, then we won't be so suspicious." He then got in his car and left without ever searching.
That story is as bad as it gets. But I stuck to my guns and asserted my rights. Because of that I have no drug record. If I had consented I would have gotten a possession charge. If the cop would have searched without my consent I would have easily beaten the charges in court and would have filed several complaints against the police department and the city.
8 times out of 10 the second you say no to a search they say "Have a nice day," and send you on your way. The other couple times they will try to hassle, threaten, and intimidate you into consenting. If you break down and consent they immediately view you as stupid, ignorant, or cowardly. Intimidating someone gives the cop an erection and he will then proceed to fuck you in the ass.
One thing you've got to realize is that if you say no to a search the cop has to let you go. They are looking for people to fuck with because it fills their day and a lot of them are real sickos. The ones who aren't still think that fucking with someone is really fighting crime. They think you are a criminal and that if they can just prove it they will have done good.
Most people the cops come across they can't touch. They have to just write them whatever ticket they can and send them on their way. They live for the people who consent to searches, because then they can fuck with them as long as they want. Consenting to a search gives them license to hold you as long as they want, fuck up your possessions as much as they want, interrogate you as long as they want, drum up all kinds of bullshit charges for any little thing they find, etc..
It really has nothing to do with your location. Everywhere in the US is ruled by the same basic constitutional rights. Your mileage will vary from "Have a nice day," to the threats and intimidation in my story above. This will vary from location to location and from cop to cop. But the right thing to do is always the same. Never consent to a search.
-FF
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