D
dsut
Guest
IAAL, this is for future reference as the event I will describe occured back in '93. I want to return to California, but this event has my concern.
It was in December of 1993, and while I was going to church, I was pulled over by a CHP. He looked me and my truck over, then asked if he may search my truck for drugs. Well, I have nothing to do with drugs, but I also enjoy my privacy. So I said no. He said something to the effect of "You understand that I can place you under arrest for failing to consent to a search?". I told him no, I don't have to consent and no he doesn't have the legal right to arrest me without probrobal cause. So he arrests me. He has me face down on the asphalt, hands cuffed behind my back, in my church clothes while it's sleeting. It was in Siskiyou county on I-5. I was on the asphalt for over an hour and he did nothing more than a cursory search. He asked me what I did for a living, and I told him it's none of his business, as I was on vaction. He told me that he can make it his business. He then asked what the silver tank was in the back of my truck, and I told him a fuel tank. He told me that I had to have hazmat placards for it, and I told him no as it was below the minimum reportable quantity (I was at that time in possesion of a CDL with hazmat endorsement). He called me a liar and asked me if I had drugs hidden int he tank. He then threatened to use a cold chicel to open the tank if I did not give him access to it. So I offered him a match. True, a bit smart-alecy, but it's also an expensive tank. Using a cold chisel on it would ruin it.
So in the end I was humilated, insulted, harassed, assaulted (my definiton since he used force to search my truck), and abducted (may be a wrong term, but I fail to see his legal right in preventing me from leaving after he check license and registration). During my vacation I had received, along with the search, several tickets for out of state tags and insufficent endorsements (still have the first one, which I got after being there for less than a week).
IAAL, next time I go to California, what should I do if this happens again? What can I do to keep it from happening? What are my rights?
IAAL< for future reference,
It was in December of 1993, and while I was going to church, I was pulled over by a CHP. He looked me and my truck over, then asked if he may search my truck for drugs. Well, I have nothing to do with drugs, but I also enjoy my privacy. So I said no. He said something to the effect of "You understand that I can place you under arrest for failing to consent to a search?". I told him no, I don't have to consent and no he doesn't have the legal right to arrest me without probrobal cause. So he arrests me. He has me face down on the asphalt, hands cuffed behind my back, in my church clothes while it's sleeting. It was in Siskiyou county on I-5. I was on the asphalt for over an hour and he did nothing more than a cursory search. He asked me what I did for a living, and I told him it's none of his business, as I was on vaction. He told me that he can make it his business. He then asked what the silver tank was in the back of my truck, and I told him a fuel tank. He told me that I had to have hazmat placards for it, and I told him no as it was below the minimum reportable quantity (I was at that time in possesion of a CDL with hazmat endorsement). He called me a liar and asked me if I had drugs hidden int he tank. He then threatened to use a cold chicel to open the tank if I did not give him access to it. So I offered him a match. True, a bit smart-alecy, but it's also an expensive tank. Using a cold chisel on it would ruin it.
So in the end I was humilated, insulted, harassed, assaulted (my definiton since he used force to search my truck), and abducted (may be a wrong term, but I fail to see his legal right in preventing me from leaving after he check license and registration). During my vacation I had received, along with the search, several tickets for out of state tags and insufficent endorsements (still have the first one, which I got after being there for less than a week).
IAAL, next time I go to California, what should I do if this happens again? What can I do to keep it from happening? What are my rights?
IAAL< for future reference,