Interoffice Legal Memorandum example

Interoffice Legal Memorandum example

Subject:   Whether Edgar Lopez is guilty of possession of cannabis (FL Statute § 893.13(6)(b)) and whether probable cause (FL Statute § 598, 729, 765) existed for the search and seizure of the automobile of Edgar Lopez in the given circumstances.

Assignment
 
You have asked me to research what constitutes probable cause for a lawful search and seizure of an automobile at a routine traffic stop to determine whether our client, Edgar Lopez, is guilty of possession of less than 20 grams of cannabis, FL Statute § 893.13(6)(b).

Legal Issue

Is the defendant, Edgar Lopez, guilty of possession of less than 20 grams of cannabis (FL Statute § 893.13(6)(b)) and was the evidence seized at the time of arrest lawful, based on probable cause (FL Statute § 598, 729, 765).

Facts of the Case

Edgar Lopez is a high school student from Parkland, Florida. On March 3rd, 2006 at 7:20pm, Edgar Lopez was stopped at a traffic light in the left turn lane. According to Lopez, the traffic signal was malfunctioning and he and the rest of the cars at the traffic light had been waiting for 3 full cycles for the tuning signal to change. Finally, Lopez had enough of waiting and took the illegal left turn when “the time was right”. Immediately, Officer Marilyn Richards pulled him over to the side of the road. Officer Richards approached the passenger side window and begin radioing for backup immediately. After a few minutes of standard driver’s license and registration exchanging, two other police cars arrived. Lopez was then asked to step out of the car, and the officers began asking questions about the contents of the car. They were asking specifically about weapons, citing the car’s tinted windows as a point of suspicion (the cars windows were within then tinting limits for the state of Florida). When asked by Lopez why so many police cars were necessary for such a routine situation, Officer Richards responded, “That’s how we roll”. A couple minutes later,...