Mainsail
Member
expvideo said:Pardon me. "Unlawfully detained against his will and handcuffed" is the more accurate terminology.
[and]
Regardless of whether you think that is reasonable, it is illegal. He didn't do anything to warrant being cuffed or have a gun pointed at him.
I don’t agree. In WA there is no such thing as “open carry in a vehicle”, that’s why we need to have a CPL to carry in our cars. Compare his situation with one where an officer stops a person on the street for some minor violation, say spitting on the sidewalk or having their dog off-leash. If the officer, while approaching the person to discuss the violation, notices a concealed weapon, he has the authority to detain that person to verify the CPL, right? He has the authority to ensure his safety by handcuffing and doing a Terry pat-down of the person. The officer’s actions were legal because the initial stop was legal. If the initial stop was illegal, the officer’s actions would likewise be illegal.
Since we don’t have an exact quote of what the officer said about searching the OP’s car, just the paraphrased version, we can’t really comment on that. They can use clever word-play to insinuate that a search is allowed when they’re really asking for permission. “I’m going to search your car, OK? Is there anything in there I should know about?” The “OK?” is the officer asking for permission, any affirmative answer, or no answer, is you giving permission. By segueing quickly into another question you never get to answer the first question. Tricky? Yes. Illegal? No.