Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 20, 2000)
/ednesday, SeptembeJ Wednesday, September 20, 2000 anes on rsity Drivi irarily clot ht westbound Drive from Nagle Street night, leaving i to traffic, to 2-inch water vate. oe begin at 10p- lould be complei:! sday. ty of College $• *B l,exas Ac&M students spend millions of ?r service will^ ‘I dollars each year learning about every- luring the repairsi P thing from astronomy to zoology, but lot expect anyone, ff w know their rights in a traffic stop, ater during tfiati- : College students are pulled over and ar- the repairs vested daily, but one can only wonder how II be closed frtr »any of those arrests would not have taken ive to Church Sirs pl ace if the arrested students had known their me experienceskBethts. A f ew simple questions posed to a law i water service I ei forcement officer may be able to help stu- of the repairs, CcT#-' nls av oid problems, tation Utility Dis AGGIE/[-A Page 3A THE BATTALION YOU HAVE tH£ KM GMT Pearls of wisdom from the mouths of legal professionals. “Just be polite and cooperate with the of ficer,” Powell said. “But remember, students have the right to remain silent. Sometimes people can just talk themselves out of a prob lem. but there is always the right to say noth ing. People have to provide the officer with insurance and driver’s license, but they do not have to say anything else. Even if a per son gets arrested, it is probably best to just go along with the officer and then call a lawyer as soon as possible.” orrection Jay's "TAPS? nentor prc ated that in its first yea/ Can a police officer pull me over for no reason? No, but if police officers are suspicious of a particular person or vehicle, they may fol- ■mr that person and wait for a reason to pull him or her over. Police officers are required to have “prob- i to new statable cause” before they pull anyone over, members, il However. Bob Wiatt. director of the Uni- iroqram P°^ ce Department (UPD). said prob- . fable cause can mean many different things, it IS OpenJiw|H “An officer will pull a car over if it has an irst time thisyiJxpired registration or inspection sticker," •pen to all statl# ' att said. “If the car has a broken tail light v memhprc d ^e driving is erratic, or at night if the ■ Inver does not turn his lights down in the open W;,|l®ice of oncoming traffic, the officer can pull ?rs - : j§ ■ ear over.” I Bruce L. Erratt, a local criminal attorney, iBaid these kinds of traffic stops happen all larification r the time, but people only hear about them on IHhe rare occurrences when they result in an . , T .Mrrest. 3a V 5 iSU “Stops and searches like that usually hap- e graphic#)0tjpen when the police see a vehicle they sus- ie departnwft tf]lP ect °f carrying drugs,” Erratt said. “The oass theftm. N ' hi " g ,hc P 01 ^ 0lo< ' k , t ' 0, ' a . pull the car over and make contact with the irtmentSVM people in it. A lot of time this happens he rn the adnwit cause of a license plate light. 1 have never nance and sti ' ^card of someone getting a ticket for having jj • • a license plate light out. but many people 5 0 end up getting arrested for bigger charges be cause of that.” ent rule, in which- j their high school® on into a publicur| sMon embraces* | f | get p U || e( | ouer w h a t do I have ,y race. Jensens** , tO tell the otfker? 2 gi\ en a pnvileM when a car is p U ,j et j over wjatt sai( j t{ie unate race in the j ,j r j ver must p r0V i(ie the officer with proof tions of attirmati'l 0 f insurance and a driver's license estions that cthchjg “When an officer pulls a car over, he will anatfluent,educa^G- sl approach the car and identify himself as alive action impalaholiee officer,” Wiatt said. “Then he will tell rican-Americanaphe driver why he has been pulled over and hor once gaveavfjap f or a license and insurance. The driver t the joy and thei|nj us t provide both. If the driver does not pro ’s what 1 think «H| t lc those, depending on the driver’s next ac- e." tions, it could result in a ticket or they could elen go to jail.” Rick Powell, students’ attorney for Student • Cf. Ccdlict Resolution Services atA&M, ,said the m g OlUQv |3 esl thing for a student to remember is to be polite and obey the officer’s commands. Can a police officer make me take a sobriety test? Yes, a citizen must perform field sobriety tests and accede to a Breathalyzer or blood test for alcohol if the officer orders it. A police officer is entitled to ask some one who is pulled over to perform sobriety tests, and that person cannot refuse, Wiatt said. The first step is field tests, when the of ficer will ask the suspect to walk a straight line or touch a finger to his or her nose or something similar. If the officer believes the person is drunk, the officer can make him or her take a Breathalyzer or go to the hospital for blood tests. Can l get arrested for insulting a police officer? Yes, if there is a witness who will testify that he or she is offended by the insult. Wiatt said the law assumes that a police officer cannot be offended, so a person can not be arrested for insulting one. However, Wiatt said, if there are other people present, the police officer can ask them if they are of fended by the insulting words or gestures. If the people say that they are, Wiatt said, the police officer can arrest the insulting citizen for disorderly conduct. Will l get arrested if I have a fake l.D. when l get pulled over? Yes. Powell said that many students who are arrested on campus and in the community are arrested for having fake I.D.s. “The best advice I can give students is to cut up their fake I.D.s,” Powell said. “The police are under a lot of pressure to cut down the underage drinking in the com munity, so they are getting less tolerant of fake I.D.s. Officers will ask for a dri ver's license now to see if a student has a fake or altered l.D. It is a Class-B misde meanor to carry one. The best thing to do is not to give them a reason to pull you over.” Can a police officer search my car? Yes, a search can be done without permis sion if the officer obtains a search warrant or if there is an illegal item in plain view inside the car. Wiatt said a police officer can search any car pulled over if the driver consents. How ever, the officer cannot search the car simply because it looks suspicious. “The officer can get a search warrant if the driver refuses to allow a search,” Wiatt said. “But there are tiines when an officer does not need a warrant. For instance, if the officer sees that the driver is obviously 17 years old and there is a bottle of Jack Daniel’s sitting in the back seat, the officer can seize the bottle without permission. If the driver is arrested, the car can be impounded until a warrant is received to search it. An officer can also search a car on'the basis of ‘fruits of the crime.' This means that if the police just had a report of a car stereo being stolen and the car has a stereo in it with wires hanging out, the officer can search the car.” Erratt said that, while these are all legal reasons to search a vehicle, many times they prove to be insufficient reasons in court. Er ratt said these “gray area” searches occur on a fairly regular basis in Bryan and College Station, but this community is no worse than any other in that regard. “A lot of it is subjective,” Erratt said. “Many of those searches, later in court the officer testifies as to his reason for searching the vehicle, and the judge does not believe the officer had probable cause, so that evi dence is suppressed.” How do I know when I need a lawyer? Anytime a person is arrested for anything more serious than a traffic offense, they should contact a lawyer. Erratt said there are many times when people simply do not contact lawyers be cause they.do not know they should. No one should hesitate to call a lawyer if they are ar rested for anything more serious than a traf fic offense, Erratt said. Most people simply do not know enough about the law to deal with prosecutors, so an attorney is a necessi ty, he said. "Most people are at a great disadvantage when dealing with the police and prosecut ing attorney,” Erratt said. “Someone who has been arrested never knows exactly what they have or whether they are telling the truth. They may tell a sus pect that the deal they are taking is great, but it may only be a great deal for the prosecutor. If a person is arrested for anything greater than a traffic offense, they should contact a lawyer as soon as possi ble. Many times people contact me, and it is just too late.” , ? •OA^ S 1 tm I mUWkM ^Si Will the university take action against me if I am arrested? Yes, for offenses on campus, penalties could range from a verbal reprimand to sus pension or expulsion from the University. Powell said students charged by the UPD for offenses more serious than traffic violations have to go through hearings with Student Judicial Services in addition to their court obligations. The degree of the crime, Powell said, and the student’s prior record determine the punishment. Story by Jason Bennyhoff Photo Illustration by Patric Schneider Headline Graphic by Brandon Henderson low available! 30 pm hrist Pkwy. rx JR AGGIES F0RC ION TAMU LsCl: Emplover Workshop Series “i ef jtson, Aggielife Editor e, Opinion Editor Uchison, Photo Editor ges, Photo Editor 3;des, Night News Edit 1 ' quist, Copy Chief tens, Radio Producer ' through Friday during® ner session (except Unitf' ostage Paid at College 55 fexas A&M University, 1M ts at Texas A&M Univets' sm. News offices are in® -2647; E-mail: Thebatta isorship or endorsemerf hi 845-2696. For classify onald, and office hours a' Learn from corporate representatives how to get the job you want! Behavioral interviewingi Friday, Sept. 22, 2000 j 123>.m. MSC 292b ! Featured Company: Price Waterhouse Coopers h Texas A&M student to f ( 5$. 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