Question about probable cause

Hello this is my first post although I have been "lurking" on these forums for about a month so I kind of know a little about some of the people here...

Anyways, I have a question about probable cause and unauthorized searches. What if I am stopped by an officer for any reason (speeding, broken tail light, etc)...he asks if he can have a look around the car, and I say "I dont consent to a search officer, I really need to get going."

The car does not smell like anything, and the only weed i have is a little baggy in my glove compartment and the car does not smell at all...So the cop wants to search, and I wont consent, all he has to say is "the car smells like marijuana" and he would have probable cause to search?

This seems like probable cause is a sham and the officer can say whatever he wants and use that as probable cause, because in a courtroom is the cop says it smelt like weed and i say it didnt it will be his word they believe...so the question is, is it really this easy for a cop to say he has probable cause? is there anything i can do to protect against this kind of "probable cause abuse"?

 

Yup, a cop needs no actual probable cause to search your car, for that reason.

 

he was probily just on a power trip, god i hate cops!

 

I believe probable cause needs to be something supported by affirmation, i.e. if he had a partner along with him that also claimed to smell marijuana.

If you wanted to drag the trial out, though, I'm sure your lawyer could probably bring up the fact that no human would be able to smell the amount o weed you had from that distance, and the cops probable cause would then be invalid. Which would also result in your case being thrown out.


I think the best thing to do is just to hide your weed in the best place you can think of in your car, and giving the cop consent. If they're just trying to get you on their own suspicions and frabricating probable cause, then they probably won't really know where to look in your car, and they'll leave empty handed. Then, you can send the PD a nice bill for any damages he may have done. In fact, you can slash your car seats up yourself, claim he did it, and get some more money just to piss them off.