I was watching COPS and saw a segment where a girl was stopped for possible DUI. The police pulled her over, approached her vehicle and told her to get out of the car. They did not smell any alcohol on her breath and suspected that she might be on drugs.
The police officer asked her if she had taken any drugs and she said that she did not. The police officer was not willing to accept that answer and told her several times that she had to tell the truth. After denying taking any drugs several more times, she finally admitted that she took one pill. The police officer than began questioning her as to what kind of drug she took. She was then arrested when she could not produce a prescription.
Of course, just because the police officer told her that she had to tell the truth, she did not have to tell the police officer that she took any drugs or what kind of drugs she took. In fact, she did not have to say anything at all, other than her name and address.
What caught my attention is that I did not see that the police officer had probable cause to stop her vehicle and did not appear to have probable cause to search her vehicle. I’m sure that the TV show COPS did not show the entire videotape and there may have been probable cause, but I did not see it. If the police officer did not have probable cause, the criminal charges will be dismissed.
What could constitute probable cause? The police officer may have witnessed the car driving erratically which could indicate that the driver was DUI, on drugs, falling asleep, or suffering from a condition such as a heart attack or stroke. Driving erratically such as weaving in and out of lanes would provide the police officer with probable cause to stop a vehicle to investigate if the driver was DUI.
Videotape of the moments before your arrest and during your arrest may be very valuable to determine whether or not a police officer had probable cause to stop you and arrest you. If the police car or police cars involved had video cameras, your criminal defense lawyer will obtain a copy of the videotape which could show if there was probable cause or not. However, many police cars do not have video cameras. If you have been arrested and your arrest was on the news, your lawyer may know about it and can obtain a copy of videos.
However, if you were filmed for a crime TV show like COPS, it is possible that your criminal lawyer will not know about your new celebrity status unless you tell your lawyer that you were being filmed or saw a TV camera when you were arrested. Be sure to tell your criminal defense lawyer if you saw that you were being filmed for a TV show.
Videotape from a TV show is far more valuable than the dashboard camera from a police car because the dashboard camera is fixed, but the cameraman will always have you in the lens. Of course, that can work both ways. It can make it easy for the prosecution, but it can also make it easy for your criminal defense lawyer. In any event, your criminal lawyer should be told as soon as possible that you were being filmed.
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