Careful driving toward and away from Vedauwoo/ BS traffic stops

nicelegs wrote: If you look the part whatsoever, expect to be pulled over. This includes stickers, roof boxes, subaru's, tacoma's, being under 50, and not having kids in the car.

Gotta love living in a police state with the highest level of incarceration per capita in the world.

Shitty as criminalization of weed and dirtbaggery/homelessness are, at least most climbers are white so we will not know true discrimination at the hands of the police.

copblock.org/28042/let-me-s…

Same exact thing happening on the UT/Colorado border.

^not that I saw in the last year or two

My tacoma with Colorado plates broke down in Casper this weekend. The statey who stopped to help didnt hesitate to ask if there was weed in the truck. He was helpful and kind, but the question was quite annoying in light of my situation. Ironically, my license plate is two digits from being "420 urb." Definitely became aware that I look like a target rolling through Wyoming with Colorado plates. Sucks because driving through Wyoming with the windows down and a foot out was a favorite passtime of mine. Dont roll dirty in Wyoming.

We just complied and acted friendly. Our driver's license was in her backpack in the back, so the cops got a free peek and sniff into the truck topper. They asked us where we had been, and if we had been climbing or hiking. I really don't see any reason to get their hackles up by not answering benign questions. If you have to, play hard ball, but otherwise 'acting' like you appreciate the job they are doing seems to work well. Our driver was sober, and pretty, which definitely helped.

I contemplated writing a complaint to the Albany County Sheriff's department, but I fear that it would be like picking a fight with the fattest meanest kid on the playground. We were lucky to get to drive back into Colorado without any more than some harassment. I am happy this thread has seem some views, gotta keep people safe on their travels! The war on drugs and the American people is alive and well along our borders.

TB

this kinda stuff happens everywhere. if the po po wants to pull you over they can find a reason. I got pulled over in Georgia shortly after leaving sand rock Alabama, supposedly for changing lanes without a signal but after checking me out the cop admitted it was because of my out of state tags and climbing stickers on the back window. he said they had had problems with out of staters trafficking drugs in their little mayberry town.

Don't break the law and you won't have anything to worry about.

^not at all true. there are many laws designed to be interpreted by the police, such as, "driving to fast for conditions". this allows them to legally harass anyone at any time.

All this harrasement seems really foriegn to myself growing up in New England. Maybe I'm just super lucky but I've never been randomly pulled over or harassed by cops here, whether it's 3am or 11pm. I drive a subaru w/ box, have ski stickers (no phish/GD/band), etc. And we drive 10mph over the speed limit as a rule too but I guess i don't fit the profile.

Last time I had a face to face with po po was when I ran out of gas and the state trooper offered to push my car with his to the gas station up the hill and down the road off his bumper.

But then again I don't go down south as any good yank will tell ya...

Gunks Jesse wrote: "Do you know why I pulled you over?"

Always answer "no". They are trying to get you to admit guilt before charging a darn thing.

mountainhick wrote: Always answer "no".

Exactly correct. A good lawyer back here in CT told me ALWAYS say no, NEVER admit any speeding or give any speed other then the speed limit (regardless of what you were traveling). If you provide a speed you were traveling to a cop that's evidence they can use against you later.

D.Buffum wrote: Don't lie. If you were speeding, don't say that you were not. If it could be proved that your lie was intentional, it could be the crime of obstructing an officer.

Talk to a good lawyer bro...

D.Buffum wrote: I am a lawyer. Hopefully a good one.

Obviously not that kind of good... and ya I'm not talking about good natured.

You seem like a good-natured lawyer, not a good lawyer. All sound advice above and nothing to argue academically speaking but.....

Unfortunately, good lawyers are sleaze bags. They get your name out of local papers by paying the right person, they tell you exactly what to say so they can make the best possible defense and get your shit thrown out regardless of whether or not it's a lie. Sorry... different worlds I guess. I have never told a police officer in my life a truthful speed I was going... period. And never once has anyone (officer or otherwise) ever suggested it's obstruction of an investigation, etc if I wan't 100% honest. That's for the courts to decide, you stand accused of speeding, but you are not guilty at the time of the questioning so there's no way they could go after at that point.

When you need a criminal lawyer, get a criminal lawyer.

D.Buffum wrote: A prosecutor is going to have a hard time convincing a jury to convict someone for intentionally minimizing how much they were speeding. Few agencies or district attorneys in my experience are going to pursue such a charge alone. But it is illegal. Usually where you see these obstructing charges is tacked on to a complaint that includes other charges that arose from the stop. For example, if the stop eventually results in an OWI charge, but you told the officer you hadn't had anything to drink, they might tack on an obstructing charge for negotiating leverage. A lawyer that advises people to break the law--i.e. provide false information to a police officer--is violating the legal code of ethics and can be disbarred and subject to civil liability for malpractice if the advice backfires. While providing false information to an officer can and sometimes will result in avoiding a ticket, it remains a crime in every jurisdiction I know of, and there are legal ways to minimize your chances of getting a ticket. No good lawyer will advice you to lie to police. Any good lawyer will advise you to keep your mouth shut.

I don't question the illegality of it but the reality is I will never get in trouble for stating I thought I was traveling the speed limit when I know I was speeding. They cannot prove what I was thinking and thus could never charge me with what you are stating hence the difference between a good natured lawyer (you) and a good (at gaming the system) lawyer. Either way, sounds like if you're driving through WY you should have some type of lawyer handy!

D. just out of curiosity, if I was arrested, would you be able to keep my name out of say the local CT papers and police blotter? If it involved you making a cash payment to someone?

Dylan B. wrote:But if the question is "do you know how fast you were going," you're in a bit of a bind.

"Generally? About the speed limit, but at precisely what moment are you asking about?"

That generally covers all bases and switches the conversation from ask to tell and avoids many trappings.

I have logged tons of miles in WY, UT, etc over the past few years in my stoner/climber dirtbag mobile (red Cherokee, rocket box, climbing stickers, the whole shebang), never been pulled over, knock on wood. Don't smoke in the car (duh), and keep your stash well hidden, it's as simple as that. Throw it under your spare tire in your trunk. Stuff it inside your sleeping bag and then in your stuff sack. Keep it deep in your rocket box. If you are really paranoid, put it in your gas cap, and on the off chance it's found by the 5-0, you have a solid case in favor for you (unlocked gas caps=public domain, could've been put there by anybody at the last place you stopped). Obviously that last one only works if your gas lid does not lock. None of these would stop the most a-holes of officers, but I feel like it's pretty easy to get away with, at least I have been able to do it (or maybe I've just been unusually lucky??). But seriously, just don't speed in the first place. WY just upped the interstate speeds to 80 mph, is that not fast enough for ya's?!

Dylan B. wrote: I would not, however, pay a bribe to a government official to violate the law. I'm not willing to commit a felony on behalf of my clients. If that makes me a "bad" lawyer by your definition, so be it. (And even if I would, would I admit it here, in a public forum, under my real name? That would just be stupid.)

Of course not... more along the lines of the newspapers. They can be paid around here in CT to keep important names out of the papers/blotters if you have the right attorney.