Originally Posted by
tkey75
I take, from a trained officer of the law who knows Constitutional boundaries, "And maybe..." to be a beat-around-the-bush admission to exactly what he describes he "might" have done.
But if the officer comes up with something in that search and is asked in court why he felt compelled to ask and the answer is "Eh, just felt like asking for no particular reason." (not that any officer doesn't have an arsenal of shady reasonable suspicion excuses to draw from, true or not) does it hold up?
No. That's what I've been saying - it's only really a protection against prosecution, for the most part. As in, the arrest would be valid but the charges would likely be dismissed because the evidence was tainted.
But since I preferred no charges and didn't plan on it anyway, it was a mute point. I confiscated illegal items, tried to impress on them the seriousness of the consequences had someone else found them and/or turn them over to mama's real and very physical love (if applicable) and then sent them on their way.