criminal-law
Does the ( Fruit of A Poison Vine ) Apply if police find a gun when pulled over for speeding but not ticketed?
<p>My husband and I got pulled over. Officer said it was for speeding. My husband has past felonies,so they searched the car and found a gun (not loaded). So they charged him with possession of hand gun ( bond is 5,000 cash )  but did not give ticket for speeding which was reason he said he pulled us over. 
 Would the Fruit of A Poison Vine apply here?? </p>

<p>An officer is allowed to pull you over for speeding and then decline to give you a ticket for speeding. So the lack of a ticket has nothing to do with it (unless you <em>actually</em> weren't speeding, not even 1 MPH over.)</p>

<p>Simply having past felonies, however, is not a reason for an officer to be able to search the car. Without a warrant, he'd need probable cause, consent, or some other exception to the warrant requirement. </p>

<p>It's impossible for me to say what happened here. Maybe your husband had an outstanding arrest warrant? Maybe the officer saw the gun from outside the car? Maybe one of you said "OK" when he asked to search the car? Or maybe the search was illegal after all? </p>

<p>To supplement another answer... a police officer can ask: "can I check your car?" and often people say: "yes, officer". By that, you are giving him a permission that is overriding a warrant requirement. So, if a police officer asks you something like that, you can deny it and if there is a probable cause, police officer can search it anyways, but if a probable cause shows invalid, any finding will be too. Same is when you are walking down the street and a police officer asks you if it can examine your bag and finds something. It depends if you gave him a permission and generally people give it thinking that they have to.</p>

<p>I agree with part that if there was a valid probable cause to stop you and that can be speeding 1MPH over the limit, he can stop you regardless whether or not any traffic infraction will be charged. But stopping for speeding does not have any connection to checking what you have in your trunk or somewhere else.</p>

<p>It highly depends on circumstances and sometimes body and car cameras they all wear can also be used to show that stop and/or search were invalid. The Fifth Amendment does not apply to the prosecutor and they need to share it with the defense attorney.</p>

<p>If you go 51 mph in a 50 mph area, an officer can of course pull you over and then let you go. And he can look into your car when it is stopped. </p>

<p>You might have a point if the officer had stopped the car because the driver had past felonies and the speeding claim was just a pretense. That would be very hard for you to prove. </p>

<p>Now with your car stopped, the police officer has no right to search your car (without your permission). He can ask for permission and if you give it, he can search the car. </p>
