If you consent to a search for drugs or weapons, can an officer also searchyour wallet?
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If you consent to a search for drugs or weapons, can an officer also searchyour wallet?
An officer asked me if I had drugs or weapons. I said no and they searched me. They found a fake ID. I’m wondering if they have the right to search the wallet since you cannot conceal a weapon or drugs in there.
Asked on November 29, 2011 under Criminal Law, Illinois
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
If you have been stopped by law enforcement and you voluntarily give consent to be searched for drugs or weapons upon your person, law enforcement then has the right to pat search you and search through all articles upon your person including one's wallet to see if there are any drugs within the wallet.
If law enforcement by looking through your wallet in search of drugs happens to find a fake identification document in your wallet, then the discovery of the fake identification is allowable and admissible in court in that many times illegal pills, marijuana, cocaine and other illegal drugs are concealed in one's wallet.
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