Is it legal for the police to search my car?

Almost everyone experiences the unfortunate event of being pulled over at some point in his or her life. However, what if you are pulled over- for a reason or for no reason at all- and the police want to search your vehicle? What are the rules for police search car, and do the police just have the authority to go through your possessions?

The answer to that question is no. The police cannot just search your car for no reason. The US Constitution protects every person in the United States against unreasonable search and seizure, and if the police just search your car without cause, this would be a classic example of unreasonable search and seizure. 

The police can, however, search your car if they have probable cause to do so. This can include:

• Seeing an open bottle of alcohol peeking out from the passenger seat. This would need to be in plain site to create reasonable suspicion to search the vehicle
• Seeing some other evidence that you have something illegal in the car. Again, the evidence must be out in the open.

If the police search your vehicle without having sold probable cause to do so, any evidence they collect will not be admissible in court and will not be able to be used against you. Further, if they find information in your car and use it to go on and collect additional evidence against you for that crime, that evidence can be excluded too because it will be considered "fruit of the poison tree."

To get help determining your best course of action if you believe you have been subject to an unreasonable or illegal search, you should strongly consider speaking with an attorney.