**** Student Legal Services Article [no author]
You are in a car with your pals. The driver makes an illegal turn and a police officer stops the car. The officer orders all the occupants out of the car. Can he do that?
Yes, he can. Travelling in an automobile poses special risks (to the occupants, other travellers, pedestrians, etc.) and the law reflects that circumstance. Typically, a police officer simply issues a ticket for a traffic violation and allows the driver to proceed. However, if they have probable cause to believe that motorists have committed a traffic offense, police officers have the power to arrest and search motorists.
The Supreme Court has determined that you have less expectation of privacy in an automobile than in your home. Thus, Police have greater leeway in conducting searches of your car when you are stopped. If a police officer has probable cause to believe that the car contains something seizable (contraband or the fruits, instrumentalities, or evidence of a crime), and has stopped the car lawfully (any traffic violation would justify), he can search without first seeking a search warrant.
What about the person of the passengers? Passengers are considered to be on a “common venture” with the driver. That means, if the officer has reason to believe the driver has evidence of illegal activity on their person, the officer will likely be justified in searching passengers based on the same suspicion. Even if a full-blown search is not justified, an officer, if he has a reasonable suspicion that a person in a lawfully-stopped car is armed and dangerous, he can pat-down passengers for reasons of protection. These days, that bar is pretty low.
So what to do you do when the officer orders you, an innocent passenger, out of the car? The basic rules for police encounters remain the same. The Fifth Amendment provides that you do NOT have to answer questions, and the appropriate response to any police questioning is always the same: “Officer, I have no comment.” The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches or seizures, but the circumstances of an automobile stop limit your privacy expectations. Regardless, the appropriate response to an officer’s request to search is also the same: Do NOT consent to a search, but do NOT physically resist. If you make your non-consent clear, and the search is deemed unjustified, anything found would be suppressed.
