LEO HWY Shakedowns K9 Interdiction Stings and You.....

Please let me be the first to tell you im not here to educate so much as to learn and understand what just happened to me and my life as a result of a chance brush with a crude power tripping gang of HWY Criminal Interdiction LEO or also better known as the HWY Patrol.

To be fair to myself and with respects to my pending case i am NOT going to reveal exactly where this encounter took place. I will however tell you that this sort of shakedown is taking place on major interstates heading east. Pick one, and your going to find stories similar to the one im about to tell.

LEO has been doing this for as long as contraband has been bootlegged only there tactics are becoming ever more aggressive and ever more illegal out of sheer arrogance and dis-regard for Civil & Constitutional rights of the citizens.

There scope of work all together which is meant to "Serve & Protect" has gone by the way side in the name of money. "Funding by means of drug interdiction Results" to secure more funding for the department they are a pledged gang member of. In many cases they are staging roadside shakedowns in an effort to intercept cash and are allowed to keep 100% of it to beef up there policing operations/line their own pockets.

This is only getting much much worse, more frequent wide spread as MJ becomes more & more accepted and widely available. Non MJ friendly states are taking their cut by ALL & ANY means even illegally. And they are getting away with alot of it due to people simply not knowing what there rights are and how to act accordingly when detained.

Not to bash all police because there are some of you that have morals and operate with integrity and we appreciate you and your service to man kind. Lord knows theres plenty of villanous threats that demand your expertise to keep the public safe. IE Rapist,Thieves,Murderers,Child Molesters, ect...

Unless the people of USA wake up and get hip to whats going on REALLY GOING ON! IN THIS WORLD! we stand to lose ALOT more of our civil liberties until one day they widdle them all away and you are no longer considered a citizen but rather a slave.

I would like to encourage other members reading along to share their experiences,wisdom,and knowledge of our Civil & Constitutional rights and let this thread be a source of knowledge for all. Knowledge is POWER!!

I would also encourage others who have been in an encounter with LEO to share your thoughts/experiences as well. We all learn together from eachothers mistakes its unfortunate but it is a fact of life. After all we cannot make our voices heard for our beloved flower so well from behind prison walls.

Maybe somebody out there will gain something from this and avoid a bad decison or situation. As for myself i may very well wind up behind bars but atleast i know in my heart that i am righteous God will someday punish my kidnappers my captors my tormentors, armed robbers and car jackers. Karma's on my side.

Thanks in advance to all who contribute!

Peace
1BMM

Use common sense and you won't end up with problems.

By reading your other post, it sounds like you may have been in a construction zone, may have been stopped for speeding or some other traffic violation. First let me point out that I will never gripe about reduced speeds in construction zones because they are necessary to ensure the safety of those working in these zones, too many road crew guys and gals are injured each year by careless drivers.

Police will use legal and sometimes questionable means to stop a M.V., technically if you are 1 m.p.h. over the posted limit you are speeding, there is no law that says you get 5 m.p.h. over that posted limit. Most departments and/or officers have a set number of m.p.h. that your have to be over before they will stop a vehicle, this can range from 7 - 15 m.p.h. usually depending on the posted limit and location of the road itself (residential, business, highway, rural, ect.). Favorites for police besides speeding are, Headlight Out, License Plate Light Out, No Front Plate (for states that issue 2 plates), Cracked Windshield, Loud Exhaust, Loud Music, ect. Most of these are petty however they are usually codified in either State or Local Ordinances and thus legal 'excuses' to stop a vehicle.

Sounds like you were stopped either by an alert officer looking for illegal contraband or by a special initiative for drug interdiction. Both of these are legal in and of themselves and do not violate your constitutional rights. What they cannot do is have a Check Point set up with the purpose to stop crime or conduct drug interdiction (except at our borders or within a reasonable distance from our borders), general crime prevention check points are illegal, however, DUI/OVI Check Points are legal because drunk drivers endanger all others traveling on the roadways.

For a K-9 Walk and Sniff of your vehicle, the officer cannot detain you for any extended length of time for the sole purpose of having a K-9 walk around your vehicle. The standard is that they cannot extend the stop for any longer than the time it would take them to investigate the stop or write the citation (for a moving violation), however, if the officer can articulate specific facts that would cause them to have Reasonable Suspicion that there are illegal drugs in a vehicle, then may extend the stop for a short duration, the courts has found that 30 minutes is not illegal, to allow a K-9 to arrive and do a walk around. Any amount of time after either the time it takes to investigate or issue the citation will be scrutinized by the courts, usually during an evidence suppression hearing, to determine if the officer truly had reasonable suspicion. If the court determines that the stop was illegally extended just to get a K-9 there, then you can get any evidence suppressed under the Doctrine of Fruit of the Poisonous Tree, the illegal act is the tree and any evidence discovered because of that illegal act or violation is poisonous and cannot be used against you.

The courts have also determined that the officers true intentions for making a traffic stop, even though premised on a traffic or equipment violation, where their true intentions was to search the vehicle for drugs, does not matter as long as the stop was legal based on a true traffic or equipment violation.

If you have any specific questions I can try to answer, just ask. I know this was a long post, but this is a vast and complicated area of the law.

Indeed it is Fish Weed and thanks for your input. I was actually going post the story of the actual events but now that i think about it that may not be such a good idea until the case goes through court. Gotta run and get kids from school now. I will expand on my situation when i get back. Again thanks for your support.

Your welcome. Like I said if you have something specific just ask, I'll try to answer it the best I can.

Ok so heres how I wound up in the snare of the man. While traveling early in the am sunrise I came through some road construction with reduced to 1 lane and 45mph. No problem I slowed down and filed through like everybody else only I was not like everbody else I had out of state tags. At about 1/4 mile into the construction zone sat a HWY Patrol lights flashing and his spot light fixed on the road seemed to be aiming at the bumper area of the passing traffic "He was running tags"

I noticed as soon as my vehicle passed that he killed the cherries and blue berries & spotlight and immediately proceeded to try and merge into the flowing traffic. That was my first indicator that there was some profiling going down and it was evident he was going to tail me. I played it cool it aint the first time ive been followed for miles by the fuzz. So traveling along with the HYW patrol a few cars back and up ahead is another HWY Patrol this time sitting along the right shoulder, Emergency lights on and spot light focused on the bumper region of the passing traffic. This time just before I was about to pass by him he killed all lights and moved aggressively to merge in traffic right behind me. He muscled in and was now on my ass. By this time we were exiting the road work zone and speed limits resumed as normal and 4 lane traffic.

I remained in the right lane cruising at just under the speed limit while the Trooper that was directly behind me was in the passing lane and gaining on me about to pass. I was gaining on the vehicle in front of me! so I either needed to pass, or slow my speed slightly until the trooper was out of my way and then pass. Well I didn't have much choice as the prick got right next to me and maintained his speed matching mine. Mind you I had slowed down to 60 from 70 to maintain a safe distance between the vehicle in front of me and this prick HWY patrol was blocking me from passing.

It makes me wonder if the Dodge dually pulling a 16ft cargo trailer in front of me was part of the HWY Patrols act. That truck again slowed down and that is when I seen Trooper #2 come speeding up right behind me cherries and blueberries I said were being pulled over my partner say WTF for? and I couldn't agree more. This was some str8 bullshit. The prick that had been blocking the passing lane a HWYP then blocked of any escape in front of my vehicle by pulling in front of me angled toward the ditch.

You would think by the way they conducted this traffic stop that we had just knocked off a bank or something. I no sooner than put my shit in park and grabbed my insurance papers from the glove box and this young Super Trooper was tapping on my passenger side window all hyper active and shit. My bro rolled his window down I told him to only roll it down a few inches but he missed the catch and that rubber necking fucker had his head all up in my cab.

My conversation with LEO went exactly as follows:

Me: How we doing today officer.
LEO: You know why I stopped you today?
ME: Not at all but I sure am curious!
LEO: You got up a little to close to the truck & trailer. Following just a little to close we like to see about 3-4 car lengths in there. Theres a lot of accidents out here.
ME: ??? Well I would have liked to pass the slower motorist but your deputy was blocking my passage and I was forced to adjust to the speed of traffic! Im pissed but being as polite as I can given the nature of this harassment.
LEO: Were just going to issue you a warning today for following to closely. Just keep in mind that its foggy this morning so keep a safe distance.
ME: Im dumb founded but relived at the same time. Ill take the warning then and be on my way I nod in agreement to follow his directives on my driving.
LEO: I tell you what why don't you come on back to my passenger seat and I can get this warning printed off, Send you on your way.
ME: You want me to come with you? "Im thinking this is odd"
LEO: Yeah just come hop in well get this warning issued and get you on your way.
ME: ok

I get out of my vehicle I regretfully did not lock up or grab my fkn keys like a dumbass. My bro was still in the truck so I figured it was all good. He had at least rolled the windows up to keep old rubber neck out of his face so that was good.

Now sitting in the passenger seat in the HWYP Tahoe.

Me: Your right that fog is getting thicker out.
LEO: Its heavy. SO where are you coming from?

"IM NOT GOING INTO FULL DETAIL HERE BUT YOULL GET THE PICTURE"
Fortunate for me the city we had just pulled out of 20 minutes ago where we had spent the night was a placed I worked briefly on a large construction project 8 years ago so I came up with a pretty good story that he could believe and even verify to some degree.

Me: Oh just coming from ------------------ heading up the road a ways here to the casino see if I cant get some better luck than last night back in --------------
LEO: SO you stayed at ------------ Hotel for how long?
Me: 2 days
LEO: How long you been in the area?
Me: Oh just under a week.
LEO:Where did you stay when you got here?
Me: First night at the little motel down there on hwy ----- next couple night we crashed at a buddies place who I work with in the Union.
LEO: What union is that?
ME: BAC-------------
This went on for a few minutes he was trying to trip me up but was un successful. Suddenly he jumps out of the cruiser and walks up to the passenger window of my vehicle and asks my bro something. I thought ohh shit he's going to figure out my story. But my bro I later found out told LEO that he thought this stop is harassment and was never cross examined and I believe that to be true because I could see them both and the encounter for my bro was short lived as he is a prick himself and not real talkative to start with.

While sitting in the cruiser watching my bro get questioned for the first time I realized this was the k-9 unit and the dog began wimpering and shuffling around where up until just now he hadn't made a sound.

The LEO came back to the cruiser and hopped in closed the door. Just as he closed his door Trooper#2 strolled by with a sniffer dog and began doing laps around my vehicle. Meanwhile LEO:Whats your mailing address?
Me:--------------------------
LEO: What's a good contact number for you:
Me:-------------------------- Trying to maintain my cool and I thought I did well but I ain't goanna lie I was nervous I watched the dog go round and round with no indication of anything and I thought he ain't goanna find nothing bulding up my confidence. And the finally the handler put the dog away. Then he came to the cruiser I was in and got out another dog! And began his rounds again this time with something in his hand not sure what it was a treat or bribe for the dog is my guess. He drags his hand along my rear bumper and the dog jumps up on the bumber following his hand and says WE GOT A HIT!

The Trooper whom I was detained with said why don't you jump out he then says:

LEO: Our k-9 officer has detected the presence of illegal narcotics in your vehicle so were going to go ahead and do a quick search.
Me: NO!! I do not consent to any searches
LEO: Well we have probable cause and reason to believe your concealing narcotics so were going to go ahead and search the contents of your trunk space. OK?
Me: No!! I do not consent!
LEO: OK I want you to walk out in front of your vehicle and face forward.

Meanwhile they got in my trunk found my stash and then asked me to come toward them.
LEO: I want you to go ahead and spread your legs apart and put your hands behind your back. Im placing you under arrest for possession of a controlled substance.
Me: Silent............. My bro was also arrested for the same charges and my truck was quickly impounded hauled away in minutes flat on a flatbed truck and off we went to jail.

Tell me RIU does this sound right? I mean what kind of shit is this where all that stands between your your rights and freedom is a few degrees of suspicion which is all determined by the officer. LEO determines im full of shit. LEO interprets his dogs lust for a snack as suspicion. It was a well coordinated trap the set purely fabricated from thin air.

While incarcerated I wound up meeting several other folks who had witnessed the same fait. I don't know how to go about this hole thing. Obviously im seeking good legal counsel from NORML and they seem to think theres a strong case of misconduct but I have just 1 problem. Money. LEO hit me good and what safety net I had set aside went to bail out me and my bro.

So it looks like im going to have to initially go with the Public Pretender until I gather the retainer funds for the NORML attorney. I have experience with Public Pretenders from my juvenile days when I spent many years in youth prison camps and reformatories. You have to be attorney smart yourself and use the Pretender as your proxy to get shit done right in your favor. What a kick in the sack lol. Fuck my life.................. Peace 1BMM

You are correct that the were looking for out of state plates, this is especially true on toll roads because of all the drug transporting that happens on those. What state were you driving in?

The stop it self will probably be ruled legal, very foggy (which you said you admitted to the trooper), so it's following too close/unsafe for conditions. Unsafe for conditions covers times when you are speeding (even if at or close to the posted limit) in fog, snow, heavy rain, and following too close is legal under the same premise. It's based on safety concerns.
He wanted you to sit in his cruiser to see if he could smell alcohol or drugs on you, plus to see you walk to see if you were impaired. It also takes you out of your comfort zone and seperates you from your buddy so he can check both of your stories. His 'chit chat' about where you're going, staying at, ect was an interrogation but also part of his investigation, it's a grey area on if Miranda is required or not, its a good legal topic to argue.
Can you give a little more details on the K9 officer having 2 dogs? Most if not all only have 1 dog at a time. Was it the same K9 officer for both walk arounds or 2 different officers? Also what was the exact charge, State Code # if you want to share that.
The thing the K9 was carrying is a reward/chew toy for the dog, the dog thinks it's a game and has to be rewarded when they do find something, don't hate the dog, they think they are playing a game.
Either that state is real tough on drugs or you had more than just personal use for them to tow your car, my state is cite and release for anything under 100 grams.
Hope this explains some of it.

Yeah i dont really want to reveal the location on the internet for the sake of my annonymity. It made the news that much i will tell you. Not just my case but many others as a applaud to the efforts of LEO's sucessful operation in taking drugs off the streets.

As for the 2 different K-9 searches they did the, same handler for both dogs. And just for the record im a dog lover so no malice towards the dogs at all. I believe the LEO used a tactic to cause the dog to jump on my bumper and construed it as an indication of the presence of narcotics. This all happened very fast from the stop to jail took maybe 20 minutes flat. I had well over 100 grams WAY over but where i was 1-100 pounds is the same charge. Possesion with intent to distribute a 3rd degree felony 0-5 years in prison & or fine up to 10k

I refuse to simply give up and cop a plea deal. Fuck that. There has to be something here that is illegal besides my luggage lol. The procedure is where im focused becasue if i can prove my point & their discovery "my stash" can be excluded, File a motion to supress. Thats my only shot to beat this thing.

I completely understand about not revealing what state this happened in. You're correct that your only option is getting the evidence suppressed and the only way to do that is to show there was a violation of your 4th amendment search and seizure rights. There is talk and some info on how a K9 Officer can indicate to the dog to "alert", it can be argued but it's a long shot. You should also focus on the stop itself, if you can get the stop ruled illegal, then they have to suppress anything they found as Fruit Of The Poisonous Tree. I can tell your not in my state or else I'd help you out with this. First thing first, file for Discovery to get the police report, copy of all video/audio of the stop, evidence reports, and lab reports when they tested it. A NIK Test (field test is presumptive only) and can't be used in court to prove what the substance actually is, they have to have it lab tested to prove what the substance was. Also your state should allow you, under the public record laws, to get copies of each officers personnel files, ask for that and any disciplinary investigations/complaintes made against either officer.
2. Write down (you and your buddy) everything you remember about the incident, do it now while it's fresh, every detail and write it as a timeline, don't give or show it to anyone else, it is for your reference only, match this against the officers reports. Attack the stop and then attack the search, that's about all you have.

Thanks Fish Weed your statement is much appreciated and along the lines of my thoughts exactly! I'm working on getting enough funds together to hire a NORML Attorney. Its crucial in my experience to know the law yourself even if your hiring an attorney because some of them as we know can be high priced and lazy.. Its a good practice to keep them on their toes.

I'm just wondering how much of this I can do on my own right now. I have the initial appearance court date next month so at this point I have nobody representing me.

At your initial appearance you will enter a plea (Guilty, Not Guilty, or No Contest if you state allows this one), I assume you are going with Not Guilty, so you will be given a Pre-Trial date or a Pre-Trial/Preliminary Hearing Date (some court combine the two. At the initial appearance the judge will also determine any bond issues, if you are out on a bond amount you already paid, you should be good and the judge will continue that bond. During the Pre-Trial you will have the opportunity to speak with the prosecutor about the case, they may offer you a deal at that time they may not. During the Preliminary Hearing all the prosecutor has to prove is: That a crime was probably committed and that you probably committed that crime, basically just enough to substantiate the charge and establish that you probably committed that crime. At that point a trial date will be set by the judge.

You should be able to enter a Not Guilty Plea prior to your initial arrangement, you do this by filing it with the court (look online for sample forms for your state/county to follow). Normally nothing happens with the case until after the initial appearance or a plea is entered. After you enter a plea, file for Discovery as explained above, ask for everything you can. After you have reviewed all of the discovered materials, file for a Motion to Suppress using the facts contained in the police report and your account of the incident to support your suppression motion, and then the court will issue a date to hear arguments on that motion.

My best advise is: get an attorney involved as soon as you can. Beg or Borrow (don't steal it's bad) the money somewhere to get enough for the retainer. This will get that attorney involved on the ground floor and he or she will know what to file when, how it is to be formatted, what to say, and what the best arguments are going to be. Going it alone in a case like this, especially with the 4th Amendment arguments for suppression, is kinda like fighting a bear with a pocket knife. You will get lost in the process and eaten alive by the prosecutor and court, that's why idiots like me waste 3 years in law school, they teach us how to kill a bear with a pocket knife (but they don't teach that course until your 3rd year).

If you get into the process with an attorney and have a question just ask, I don't want to second guess your attorney but I might be able to explain something in a different way. Good Luck.

I really appreciate your counseling me here Fish. Im somewhat familiar with the process but unlike your situation I learned it all the hard way in and out of jail in my younger hoodlum days. I learned very fast that hiring vs appointed is the only way to get a decent outcome.

I have been wracking my brain for the last 2 weeks going over every detail looking for the weak points in the case from inception to detention. Needless to say ive been doing a great deal of research.

I've also been digging my nose into the State Law books getting myself familiarized with how the law reads in the trouble state. Im curious by nature so im soaking up all the info I can like a sponge. Hopefully it will be of use somewhere along the line.

Have also been researching similar cases where the defendants have filed for a motion to suppress on grounds of violation of the right to travel freely across the USA without molestation or questioning from Authorities.

It really does get quite complex and multi dimensional on all angles when invoking the 4th amendment as my base for my decision to fight the case. It does seem like the deck is stacked against me from jump street especially in light of the Pink Elephant in the corner, "the discovered evidence"

In one particular case ive been studying, the defendants motion to suppress was denied because the officer who conducted the traffic stop did not activate his cruiser cam until after the defendant had allegedly committed the traffic violation that warranted the stop. According to how the law reads, and don't quote me on the actual verbatim "Where there is no evidence to substantiate the truth of actual events, latitude of the truth shall always be in favor of the peace officer's version over the defendants. So that in itself is bias and sets the stage for an unfair trial leading the jury to believe that only the peace officer is the credible individual. Its a crock of shit and should be challenged.

Time will tell I guess. I will definitely follow the procedures you have laid out for me Fish and again much thanks for sharing your knowledge. I just cant wait to see the video evidence of the traffic stop. I do think this is my first line of defense and then on to finding misconduct in the procedures next. Lots to learn

One other thing. If initially I plead no contest or not guilty and I come to a point where I believe that fighting the case is going to be a futile attempt. Can I still negotiate a plea deal or am I in for the ride?

On a not guilty plea it goes through the whole process, opportunity to plea bargain. On a no contest there won't be any offer to plea bargain (normally), no contest is that you are not admitting guilt but you are not contesting the charge, the judge can sentence you on the spot, or order a pre-sentence investigation usually done by the probation department.
You are correct that deference is given to the LEO, because too many defendant lie or at least tell untruths, they have the most to lose. Your smart to do your research on this.
What you can do is start with a pubic defender to get the process going (pled, discovery, ect.) and then change attorneys when you can come up with the money for the retainer. The new attorney just have to file with the court to take over the case. This case is a marathon not a sprint.

My only 2 cents is the state I am in has medical and they shut the interstate down just the other week with a K9 roadblock and you shoulda seen the line of cars on the side of the road as well they just had a case where a cop used a k9 only found seeds and the supreme court ruled it was unconstitutional to use a k9 as probal cause....That what the officer did was unlawful.....
http://www.copblock.org/24664/must-see-video-illinois-police-officer-reveals-they-smear-drug-scent-on-vehicles-at-parking-lots/



If you dive further you with your research you can find were the supreme court rules K9 searches as not probable cause but that may just be in my state? BTW sorry on it only being a short article there are many more you can read

I checked that article, you have to take that site with a grain of salt, from the others articles and quotes it is obviously slanted to one view.
Probable Cause is usually based on several factors that when combined together satisfies PC. The K9 Alert alone not being PC is normally ruled when there are no other factors or Reasonable Suspicion, like just walking through a parking lot and running the dog around every car, this would not be a legal search (with a few exceptions).
The 'check point' is worrisome, general crime prevention roadblocks have been ruled illegal by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The best place to find the case law is not on the Internet but your County Law Library, that way you get the Black Letter Law and rulings from cases in you state with no slant or opinions added

Fish Weed said:

I checked that article, you have to take that site with a grain of salt, from the others articles and quotes it is obviously slanted to one view.
Probable Cause is usually based on several factors that when combined together satisfies PC. The K9 Alert alone not being PC is normally ruled when there are no other factors or Reasonable Suspicion, like just walking through a parking lot and running the dog around every car, this would not be a legal search (with a few exceptions).
The 'check point' is worrisome, general crime prevention roadblocks have been ruled illegal by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The best place to find the case law is not on the Internet but your County Law Library, that way you get the Black Letter Law and rulings from cases in you state with no slant or opinions added

Click to expand...

Nah that was just one of many articles out there on that specific incident I was just bringing it up ....And ya thats what I thought to but the police are gonna do what they want to until somebody starts slappin lawsuits on em

Just remember, not all LEOs are bad or do illegal stuff. The majority do their job by the book, it's only a small percent that are the rotten apples. You just never read about the officers that put in an honest day's work, that doesn't sell ad time for the news agencies. I know a bunch of local, state and federal guys and gals who are great to deal with, even though we are adversaries on a case.
If you ever get to know a cop sit back and listen, they have the best stories about things they had to deal with, it's some funny shit.

Fish Weed said:

Just remember, not all LEOs are bad or do illegal stuff. The majority do their job by the book, it's only a small percent that are the rotten apples. You just never read about the officers that put in an honest day's work, that doesn't sell ad time for the news agencies. I know a bunch of local, state and federal guys and gals who are great to deal with, even though we are adversaries on a case.
If you ever get to know a cop sit back and listen, they have the best stories about things they had to deal with, it's some funny shit.

Click to expand...

Not all, but the majority of them are.

i am so sorry for you and your family and your friends. im no lawyer and have had a few johnny law run ins. try filing a continuance motion. tell the judge you have good job and just another two weeks to retain an attorney. from what little i know from watching other peoples court cases theres a bunch of motions you can file if you do the leg work. i watched this one case of an asshole boss that had motions of continuances all over the place. dragged on for months.personally i think there is no probable cause but doubt that will stick. ive had great success talking to prosecutors. shit if you have the chance (depending on history, record) i bet you can talk to prosecutor first day in court and get probation.if your record is really clean for past 10+ yrs shit you might be able to get it knocked down to some traffic violation. just give him some pricey options. they would rather get a bunch of money right out of the gate and forgo imprisonment.that's my exp. fwiw. lots of good people paying heavy prices hopefully this will diminish over the next few years. im not trying to give good or bad legal advice just talking points to think about regarding something i care a great deal about.
best of luck to you