Cop searched my car without my consent

Question

I got pulled over yesterday, August 7, and got arrested because I did not know that I had a suspended license. They handcuffed me and put me in the car. My boyfriend was with me and they asked him if they could search the car. And, of course he said yes. But does he have the legal authority to give them consent when he is not the owner of the car or on the car's title? I am just curious.

Answer 1

Your boyfriend is stupid. Dump that guy, cops always take advantage.

Answer 2

it depends what state this happened in. In some states arresting you for operating without a license is enough to give probable cause to search the vehicle. Also, the officer will generally ask you (the owner) if you give the passenger permission to drive the vehicle home (so you don't get your car impounded). If you gave your boyfriend permission to drive the car home, then he can also consent to it being searched. Did they find anything illegal? If not i would just let it go. It wont help you to get out of the operating on a suspended license fines.  

Answer 3

Cops break the law all the time. Your boy friend was not to bright.

Answer 4

you were arrested there for the cops can search your car with out consent...  

Answer 5

They did not need your boyfriend's consent to search the car.  

They did not need your consent to search the car in that case, either.

You were under arrest, and a search of the vehicle incident to arrest is legal and permissible.  It's possible they just wanted to see his reaction; I do that all the time (it helps me know ahead of time if I'll find anything.)

Answer 6

Your boyfriend's an idiot. You really need that dead weight?

Answer 7

Anytime someone is taken into custody, they can legally search incident to that arrest. They do not need consent.

It could be they were simply asking your boyfriend as a matter of courtesy, to inform him what was going on... they were going to search it regardless of what he said.

Sometimes you ask a question to see the reaction. It is amazing what some people do. I've actually seen people look back at the car, and right to the area where something is hidden.

Answer 8

This depends on what state you are in, but as a general rule it is allowed under the "search incident to arrest" exception to a warrant requirement.  

Answer 9

Typically not, but as long as the police have a reasonable belief that he had the authority to give consent to search, the search will be upheld as legal.

Answer 10

As stated before...

The officer does not need your consent (or your boyfriend's consent) to search your vehicle.  The officer's conduct is permissible under search incident to arrest.

But you know, if you weren't driving on a suspended license, you wouldn't have to worry about this.  DLs aren't suspended without cause.  You did something to cause it to be suspended, and I'm sure you were informed of the upcoming suspension by letter from your DMV or from an officer's certification statement that is commonly used for DUI stops.

Answer 11

No, your boyfriend cannot give valid consent to search your car.  This is true anywhere in the United States.

As someone else noted, if it reasonably appears b/f owned the car, or otherwise had control over it, so that it reasonably appeared he could give valid consent, then the search is OK.  This could be true if you loaned b/f the car, and he was driving by himself.  Definitely not true if you were driving, and b/f was a passenger.

However, the officer may still search your car incident to a custodial arrest.  In such a case, the search is limited to the passenger area of the vehicle, i.e. not the trunk.