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My daughter was the front seat passenger in a car stopped for speeding. As the officer was talking to the driver (her best friend), he asked both of them to get out of the car because he said he saw a "pot pipe" on the floorboard behind the passenger seat. He called for backup, and then searched the car. During the search of the rear passenger compartment, he apparently found marijuana in the ashtray of one of the doors. Can the police search a car without a warrant? Can my daughter be convicted of drug possession even if the stuff isn't hers and she did not know it was even there?

A: The Fourth Amendment usually requires a search warrant before the police can seize evidence or contraband that is located in a place where the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy. A car is one of those places. However, evidence or contraband that is in "plain view" is not covered by the Fourth Amendment in circumstances such as you have described.

The short answer to your second question is, "Yes, she can be convicted of drug possession, but other evidence linking her to it will likely be required." Her mere presence in the car where drugs are found is not enough to sustain a conviction because there is no presumption that because she was in the same place as the drugs that they belong to her or that she "possessed" them. If you haven't done so already, interview and retain the services of an attorney.

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