Suppression

If you have been arrested following a traffic stop without reason or probable cause, you should immediately call Skeen & Robinson. Our team can advise you of your rights and defenses under the law and seek to have any evidence found in the course of the traffic stop suppressed.

If you have been stopped without a valid reason, Skeen & Robinson can zealously represent you in a court of law. The Supreme Court has held that random vehicle stops are unreasonable seizures under the Fourth Amendment. Police officers are required to have probable cause in order to justify stopping a vehicle, or at the very least, a reasonable articulable suspicion that a driver is violating a law or traffic code, such as speeding. Police officers cannot randomly stop a vehicle if you have an out-of-state license plate. Police officers cannot stop your vehicle unless they have actual evidence that you have broken the law.

Utah state law does not protect cars from searches in that same way that homes are protected. If for example, a driver is pulled over and is found to have severely bloodshot eyes, the officer may feel inclined to search the vehicle for marijuana. While police tend to have free reign when it comes to vehicle searches, their rights are not unlimited. Pointing out misconduct can be key to securing your freedom.

If a police officer does make a random stop of a vehicle, any evidence found in the car or on the passengers can be suppressed. Evidence that is obtained through an illegal search cannot be used against the person who was searched. This is known as the “exclusionary rule.” It is almost always necessary to make a motion to suppress the evidence in order to keep it from being admitted at trial. Over the years, we have had several cases suppressed and dismissed where police officers stopped vehicles without a valid justification.