Was I searched Illegally?

Question

Me and my friends were on the phone waiting for some...er marijuana. It was going to be a while so we decided to take a walk through a graveyard that was behind a store we were at. We entered the graveyard in broad daylight, we were allowed to be there we were not doing anything wrong yet. A big ford expedition pulls up and three men get out showing us badges. Next thing we knew we were being searched from head to toe. These cops also lied to us and told us a girl had been raped in that same graveyard the previous night to justify their search. I know this is a lie because i live in a very small town and news like that spreads quick we never heard another thing about it. In the end they found just about everything needed to smoke except the marijuana and they let us go. Can anyone tell me if this sounds like a legal search?

Answer 1

Not all rapes are exposed to the public - so it is very possible the police told the truth. And if they had a reason to search you then they can. You are lucky you didn't have drugs on you......maybe that is a sign that you should quit.

Answer 2

Wait, so if you didn't hear about it, it didn't happen? Lol. Maybe they got tipped off you were going to buy weed.

EDIT: Do they have some sort of Paul Revere figure ride around on horseback informing people someone had been raped just minutes earlier?

Answer 3

If there were really a rape then undercover or plain clothes policeman would not be driving an unmarked car.  Rather they would be swarming the place with marked cars.  Unless you and your bro's resembled the description of the "alleged" rapist, then it was illegal for the cops to search you.  If the cops had a reasonable suspicion, based upon articulable facts, that you 3 either were committing a crime, had committed a crime, or were about to commit a crime, then they could have performed a "Terry" stop--detained you and frisked you for weapons.  This kind of investigatory detention only allows them to pat you down and frisk you.  They are not allowed to search you unless when they pat you down, they feel something that is immediately apparent to them to be contraband.  I believe that you were ILLEGALLY SEARCHED.