MISSING LICENSE PLATES POLICE STOP

Many Los Angeles DUI investigations start from a police traffic stop.  The police can pull over a vehicle for a moving violation, such as speeding or weaving outside of a lane, or following too close.  The police can even stop you for a non-moving violation, such as non-working light or missing license plate.  Here, Los Angeles DUI Attorney discusses how to win your Los Angeles DUI case when you get pulled over because your car has only rear license plates.  Not having front license plates can result in you being pulled over by Police in Los Angeles and culminate in a Los Angeles DUI arrest.

MOTION FOR SEARCH AND SEIZURE: LOS ANGELE DUI

If you are pulled over in Los Angeles, call Los Angeles DUI attorney to get a free consultation on how we can help you.  In many of our cases, Los Angeles DUI Attorney files a motion for search and seizure.  If Los Angeles DUI Attorney files a motion for search and seizure, the police officer who pulled you over and arrested you for a DUI in Los Angeles, has to come to court and testify about the way he pulled you over.  The reason the police officer has to show up to court has to do with a burden of proof regarding the proper reason to stop, approach, or arrest a driver in a DUI investigation.

The motion for search and seizure is based on the legality of the stop or arrest and is rooted in the 4th amendment to the US Constitution which protects the public from “unreasonable searches and seizures” by police.  Los Angeles DUI lawyer specializes in motions for search and seizure and if the motion is granted, your Los Angeles DUI case will be dismissed.

WHAT IS A MOTION:

For Search and Seizure, the motion is a written document that needs to be typed up by a lawyer and filed with the court.  After the motion is filed with the court, it has to be served on the prosecutor handling this case.  The clerk of the court will calendar the motion at least 10 court days after filing/service so that witnesses, such as the arresting officer, can be subpoenaed to court.

THE HEARING ON THE MOTION FOR SEARCH AND SEIZURE

Most often, in Los Anges DUI case litigation, Los Angeles DUI attorney challenges the legality of the stop rather than the legality of the arrest.  That’s because most people drive better than they perform on field sobriety tests.  That is also because the field sobriety tests are subjective and thus harder to challenge. What appears to be a good field sobriety test, will appear to be “not good” field sobriety test for a biased Los Angeles DUI police officer.  Case law allows officers to arrest defendants based on odor of alcohol.  After all, even sober people can fail some field sobriety tests, while impaired drivers often drive without violating any laws.  But even a person who drives without violating any law can be arrested and convicted of a DUI because impairment is not required for a Vehicle Code 23152(b) prosecution, since it is based on the alcohol level, i.e, you can be sober but over the limit of .08 and therefore guilty of a DUI in Los Angeles.

When the stop of your vehicle results in Los Angeles DUI arrest for a bad reason, you will need the help of experience DUI Lawyer Los Angeles to win your case.  Los Angeles DUI Attorney will argue during the motion, and after the police testify that the stop of your vehicle is a violation of your rights under the 4th amendment to the US Constitution.  Here, we are addressing one type of 4th amendment litigation, to wit, when the traffic stop of your car was based on a missing front license plate.  If a motion to suppress the evidence of such a stop is granted and the judge decides that this stop is illegal, your DUI case is likely to be dismissed. Once the Los Angeles defense attorney brings up a “search and seizure” issue in his motion, the prosecutor has to justify the stop and the arrest because any warrantless search or stop is presumed unreasonable.

In many Los Angeles DUI investigations, if there is a reason to stop a car and approach a driver.  Then, the Los Angeles DUI arrest is justified based on the driver’s failure to perform the field sobriety tests as demonstrated and explained by police officer and based on the presence of objective signs of intoxication such as the smell of alcohol, red watery eyes, etc.  If the police stop is legal, Los Angeles DUI Attorney recomends your DUI cases to go to trial to have a winning chance.  Since the police has to justify DUI arrest, the police officer needs to have probable cause.  DUI attorneys in Los Angeles, in litigating search and seizure motions, can help you show to the judge that the stop is illegal.  Of course, the facts are important and it depends on the type of police investigative stop.  Some traffic stops, such as running a red light, are easily justified as legal by police, while others, such as missing front license plates, are not.  Please call Los Angeles attorney DUI to determine if the traffic stop in your case is illegal and if we can help you get your Los Angles DUI case dismissed or Los Angeles Criminal case dismissed.

Case Law In Support of Wining A Motion When Front License Plates Are Missing.

In California, when a vehicle is missing a front license plate, the police officer can stop your car.  However, when the vehicle plate is issued by a different state, where only one license plate is required, the police stop is illegal even if the police thiks that all jurisdictions require two license plates.

This argument is known as a “mistake of law” and it is a great way to get your case dismissed by showing to the court that the stop was illegal.  There are several case laws from Federal and California Courts about this.  One of the best cases about this is People v. Reyes, 196 Cal. App. 4th 856.  Here is language from Reyes that can be used to dismiss your DUI case.

“We . . . note the fundamental unfairness of holding citizens to `the traditional rule that ignorance of the law is no excuse’ [citation] while allowing those `entrusted to enforce’ the law to be ignorant of it.”

In addition to this, if the police believe that your new car did not receive the license plates yet, they have to justify the stop.  During the motion, your Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney or Los Angeles DUI Attonrey can question the police officer on how they were able to observe the missing license plate and if they cannot explain that, your Los Angeles DUI case or Los Angeles Criminal case will be dismissed by the judge.

For a free consultation about your case please contact Attorney DUI Los Angeles through our website or call us directly at (818) 921 7744.  DUI attorneys in Los Angeles are ready to help you win your case and can do so at an affordable rate.