When Can Police Legally Search Your Car? Warrant Or No Warrant?

I have an interesting topic for you today which clients often talk about, when can police legally search your motor vehicle? So, let’s give you a hypothetical fact situation, you’ve been pulled over by the police. Can they legally search your car? Well, there’s certain situations where they can’t, you know, for example, if they ask to search your vehicle, that’s called a consent search. and you don’t have to consent. But if they ask you, they can actually go through any part of the car, but they’ve got your search if they have reasonable and probable grounds, that is, they’ve been have a tip, and you’ve been connected to particular crime, they may be able to search your car as well. That’s the standard for under section 8 of the Charter for searching a motor vehicle, there’s less privacy interest in a motor vehicle that it happens in certain situations. They need a warrant to search your car in certain situations because what we call emergency or exigent circumstances; they may be able to search on the spot with reasonable and probable grounds. The other thing is called the plain view doctrine. So, for example, let’s see they come to your window and you’ve got cocaine or marijuana plainly sitting on the seat. Well, they’re allowed to grab that. It’s in plain view, and that’s a search that is not going to be thrown out in court. So, consent. You don’t have to consent, plain view doctrine and, of course, reasonable and probable grounds. Now if the search is illegal, like, let’s say it turns out they didn’t have reasonable problem grounds, then you may be able to get it thrown out of court if they found drugs buried, for example, in the glove box, and they didn’t have the grounds. So that’s called a legal search under section 8 of the Charter, everyone has the right to be secure against an unreasonable search and seizure, and that can often get thrown out under Section 24 one of the Charter, that is bringing the administration of justice and disrepute. What other searches are allowed in a vehicle? So, let’s say you get charged with impaired driving, just as example. So as part of the search incident to arrest that’s called, they’re going to be able to search your pockets, make sure everything’s safe, make sure there’s no weapons around, so perhaps the immediate vicinity of the car, make sure there’s no accessible weapons. That’s called a search incident to arrest. Now they can’t start going into the glove box as a, you know, kind of a fake search incident, arrest or under hidden things, that’s not allowed in that particular situation. If your car gets impounded, they may be able to do what’s called an inventory search back to the police station as well. Now, in many situations, it may be advisable, if the police impound your car, for them to get a search warrant, because there’s not emergency search situation now, they’ve got your current entailment, there’s no risk of you driving it away. So, they would be wise in that particular situation to get a search warrant if they have reasonable problem grounds. For example, let’s say they had an informant tip that you’re dealing drugs, and the police followed you, and they saw you go to a drug home, which has, you know, dealing drugs all the time. And this is an experienced confidential informant who’s reliable has been used in the past, that may give them reasonable grounds to get a search warrant for your car after they impound it and take it away. So there are many situations where the police can search your vehicle, obviously, if you just pull you over for a normal check and they don’t have crowns, they can’t search anything other than what they see in plain view, or other than what you allow them to. So, you don’t have to if the police ask you to search your car, and you don’t want them to just say no and ask them if they proceed to search, you can ask them what grounds they have for as well. I mean, that may be advisable in that situation because, I mean, most police officers are very honest. I have seen situations where officers will make up grounds that don’t exist. So, you have to protect your rights. Don’t allow them to search. Just say no. And under what grounds are they searching? So, there you have it. The bottom line is, there are situations where they’re going to be allowed to search their vehicle, but typically they have to have ground’s plain view or your consent. If they don’t have proper grounds and don’t have any of those factors in play, you may be able to challenge the search in court and when win getting the evidence excluded under Section 24 one of the Canadian Charter Rights and Freedoms. So that’s a short little primer, a very simple primer on consent searches and reasonable program searches of vehicles.