If a cop uses canine assistance and the dog 'hits', yet the officer finds nothing after tearing my car apart, do I have any recourse for the damage done to my car?
I know a person that was in a large city in Arizona, whom had his personal vehicle not only searched, but literally torn apart. They did not find anything, yet they u201cknewu201d he was a drug dealer. Since the vehicle was registered to his mother, she filed a suit the next day. A few days later, he was pulled over while driving another private vehicle, also registered to his mother. This time there were the same officers as the first encounter, but they had additional officers to assist.Keep in mind that when they were pulled over, they were told to exit their vehicle, were cuffed and then placed in the patrol cars while the search happened.The second time, once again there wasnu2019t anything illegal found, and of course, the car was left ransacked. (retaliation?)Again, the vehicle was registered to my friends mother. Not only did she go to the police department where these officers worked, this time she pressed charges for harassment, intimidation, unlawful search and detainment, as well as damaging private property.Then she went to the mayors office and had a long talk with the Mayor.When this finally went to court, the police officers said that both times there was probable cause, because they u2018thoughtu2024 they had seen not only drugs, but what looked like paraphernalia in u201cplain sight.u201d As the lawyer asked the one of the officers where the illegal substance was for evidence, the judge interrupted lawyer and also asked where the evidence was.The officer, on the stand, replied that it was a wadded up cellophane from a cigarette package in the center console that he mistook for drugs and the paraphernalia. The judge then asked why they continued to search the first vehicle after they discovered that it was not any sort of illegal substance. The officer replied that he had a suspicion there might be more drugs hidden in the vehicle.Mind you, normally the judge simply listens to both sides plead their cases. However, he saw through what happened during the illegal stops. Then the lawyer got back to asking questions, and then the questions moved on to the second encounter. The reason used for pulling the car over in the first place was that they smelled an odor of marijuana being smoked, coming out of the car while they were driving down the road. The lawyer asked if the windows were up of down while the car was driving down the road. The lawyer asked the officer to describe, in detail, what happened as he and his partner got out of their patrol car and walked up to the vehicle in question. He said that he walked up to the car, tapped on the side window and asked the driver to roll down the window.The lawyer asked if there was a lot of smoke coming out of the vehicle when the window was rolled down. The officer said there was not. Then he proceeded to tell the court that his probable cause for making the occupants exit the vehicle was because he then smelled a harsh odor of smoked marijuana. So, for his safety, he and his partner handcuffed the 4 occupants and placed them in four separate police cars. The lawyer asked why there were so many police cars on the scene. The officer said it was back up for their safety, since they saw four people sitting in the vehicle upon the stop.After a lot more questions, the lawyer asked why the officers did not even attempt to put either car back together after the search was completed and nothing was found. (Keep in mind that, on both cars. the(4) door panels were removed from the inside of the doors, the head liner was ripped down, the contents of the glove box and center console was removed and left in a pile in the passenger side floor board, one the SUV, the rear hatch had been disassembled and left apart. On the sedan, the contents of the trunk were removed, searched and then thrown back in the trunk. Both spare tires were cut with sharp knives and searched inside them for drugs.The officers response was, u201cI didnu2019t think it was necessary, and since they didnu2019t find anything and the occupants were allowed to leave on their own (after well over 3 hours on the first encounter, and 5 hours on the second) that they could do it themselves.u201dBy this time, the judge said he has heard enough, told all of the officers involved in both encounters to stand up while they watched the dash camera video and see how they acted. The judge watched the first twenty minutes of the search, then asked the bailiff to fast forward to the end of the incident where the officers let the occupants out of the police cars, because he was getting sick watching the officers act like they did.Long story, short, all 6 officers were fired. Iu2019m not sure exactly what else happened to them, but my friend that was driving the vehicle received a heart felt apology from the judge as well as the Mayor, and a nice check with a 3 and a bunch of zerou2019s behind it, and the other occupants also received a check with a 1, followed by a bunch of zerou2019s each for having their civil rights violated in such a blatant and disgusting manner.
