What Grounds Do Police Need for a Drug Search?

For the police to lawfully conduct a drug search, they need probable cause. This means the officer has facts showing a fair probability that someone has illegal drugs. Reasonable suspicion alone isn’t enough. A traffic stop on its own doesn’t give an officer the right to dig through your car. He needs a warrant, your consent, or one of the exceptions below. If you were searched and charged in Houston, call (713) 664-4000. Whether that search was legal is often the whole case.  

If you’re facing drug charges, your lawyer could assert that police did not have probable cause to search you. A Houston criminal defense lawyer from Blass Law can fight for your freedom and pursue a “not guilty” verdict on your behalf.  

What police need to search you for drugs

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures. Law enforcement generally needs a court-issued warrant based on probable cause to perform a search. However, there are exceptions to this rule, and certain circumstances allow police officers to conduct a drug search without a warrant.

Police can justify a drug search on several grounds, including these:

Consent

Under search and seizure law, if a person willingly consents to a search, the police can legally proceed without a warrant. Consent must be freely given, and individuals have the right to refuse a search.

Reasonable suspicion

If law enforcement has reasonable suspicion that you’re involved in a crime, they can detain you briefly. If they reasonably believe you’re armed, they can pat down your outer clothing for weapons. That isn’t a full search for drugs. 

Exigent circumstances

In urgent situations in which there is an immediate danger to safety, evidence destruction, or a risk of escape, law enforcement may conduct a search without a warrant, known as the “exigent circumstances” exception.

Search incident to arrest

When someone is arrested, police may perform a search of their person and their immediate surrounding area (wingspan) without a warrant. The point is to protect the officers and keep evidence from being destroyed.

Plain view

If law enforcement sees illegal substances or drug paraphernalia in plain view, they may have grounds to seize these items without a warrant.

Car searches

If an officer has probable cause to believe there are drugs in your car, he can search it without a warrant, including closed containers where drugs could be hidden. That’s how most Houston traffic-stop drug cases start, and the fight is over whether the probable cause was real: the smell he swears he noticed, the dog alert, how nervous you looked, what you said. A search after an arrest is narrower. Under Arizona v. Gant, 556 U.S. 332 (2009), police can search the car only if you could still reach into it or they reasonably believe evidence of the arrest offense is inside.

When you entrust your case to Attorney Jay Blass Cohen, he can assess the details of your arrest and determine whether the police violated your rights. If so, he could move to have any improperly gathered evidence barred from trial, possibly weakening the prosecution’s case. 

How a criminal defense lawyer can defend you against drug charges

When you hire Blass Law to handle your drug crime case, we craft your defense strategy based on the details of your situation. In pursuit of the best possible outcome, we may argue that: 

You didn’t have drugs on your person

Many convictions for drug crimes rest on proving you had drugs on your person, in your vehicle, or in your home. If there is insufficient evidence proving this fact, your criminal defense lawyer could move to have your charges dismissed. 

There were problems in the evidence’s chain of custody

Evidence in a drug crime case passes through many hands, from police officers to the district attorney’s office. If there are gaps in who handled the evidence, or signs someone tampered with it, we use that in front of the jury. When the tampering is real, we move to keep the evidence out. 

The drugs didn’t belong to you

Suppose that you’re charged with possession with intent to deliver, which is what most people mean by trafficking (Texas has no offense by that name). Per Texas Health and Safety Code § 481.112, you must knowingly have drugs in your possession to be convicted. If your lawyer could show that the drugs were planted or didn’t belong to you, this could affect how matters proceed.

You were the victim of entrapment

Entrapment can occur when law enforcement entices or coerces you into committing a drug-related crime. Here, your defense would allege that if not for the pressure of law enforcement, you would not have committed an offense.  

Police questioned you in custody without Miranda warnings

The police must read your Miranda rights clearly and in a language you understand before they question you in custody. If the police questioned you in custody without reading your rights, and you admitted something incriminating, your lawyer could move to have those statements disregarded. 

Why trust your case to Blass Law

Our founder, Attorney Jay Blass Cohen, has advocated for people facing the criminal justice system since 2009. In that time, he’s secured favorable outcomes for drug crime defendants. Jay’s more than a lawyer; he is an ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist and trained in forensic chromatography for both alcohol and drugs. 

When you entrust Blass Law with your case: 

• We check whether the evidence in your case is admissible. Prosecutors often try to convict people with evidence that was gathered the wrong way. We go through every piece of it and check whether it was lawfully collected. 
• You benefit from our years of experience. Our law firm has secured favorable outcomes for more than 15 years. In that time, we’ve handled everything from appeals to federal cases. 
• You get an advocate who understands forensic testing for drugs, and blood tests/Breathalyzers. Some police officers rely on the results of tests to make arrests and search motorists’ cars for drugs. Jay can review the results of such tests and determine whether they truly represented your condition at the time of arrest. 

Our team puts your future first. Don’t go through the criminal justice process alone. Hand your case to us, and put your energy into getting through this hard stretch.  

Call Blass Law for a free consultation

If you were arrested for a drug crime, and you believe the police violated your rights, you could benefit from entrusting our criminal defense team with your case. Attorney Jay Blass Cohen can evaluate the details of your arrest and craft a defense strategy based on his findings. Call (713) 664-4000 and tell us where you were stopped and what the officer said before he searched. We’ll tell you whether that search holds up. 

Charged with this in Houston, or worried you’re about to be? Call (713) 664-4000 or fill out the form on this page for a free, confidential consultation. We’ll tell you where your case stands and what we’d do first.