Most people in Oklahoma City had never heard of rapper 2 Chainz until the musician and his entourage decided to take a stand against what they said was an unreasonable search of their tour bus.
Last week, 2 Chainz opened for Lil Wayne at the Chesapeake Energy Arena--the same Lil Wayne who tweeted about his "mistreatment" with the Oklahoma City Thunder organization when they were unable to grant him floor tickets, a special escort, and a designated entrance to the NBA playoffs.
As 2 Chainz's tour bus was leaving the city, Oklahoma City police pulled over the vehicle with a broken tail light. As the driver stepped from the vehicle, a police officer said he smelled marijuana and could see smoke in the bus. He told the driver that the smell of marijuana and the presence of the drug provided him probable cause to search. However, the driver refused to open the door of the bus to let police search without a warrant, saying he was not authorized to do so.
When an officer tried to get another passenger on the bus to open the door, the man shook his head and held up a small copy of the United States Constitution.
Despite phone calls and negotiations, the constitutional standoff continued, with police saying they had probable cause and group members saying that they did not have such cause and could not search without a warrant.
Eventually, the tour bus was towed--with occupants still inside--to a police training center. The district attorney's office obtained a search warrant, and once police showed the bus occupants the warrant, some 9 hours after the incident began, they got off the bus. Police say a search of the vehicle turned up drugs, but it has not been determined to whom the drugs belong, what quantity of drugs were found, or what type of drugs they are.
2 Chainz disputes that drugs were found and says that police did not have probable cause to search the vehicle. He took to Twitter after the incident, as celebrities do, saying, "Don't ask me ask OKC police department what they found on the bus,,,,u won't get an answer because nuthn was found." He also told the Twittersphere that his tour bus gets pulled over weekly, and police always say they smell marijuana and need to search the bus.
It is illegal for police to search one's property without permission unless they have probable cause or a warrant. Unfortunately, as many people soon realize, it is easy for police to say they have probable cause. A quick YouTube search of "DUI Checkpoint Refusal" shows numerous videos of people whose vehicles were searched for "probable cause" after they refuse to consent to a search. In one video, the poster says that he was arrested after police said they could "smell alcohol," even though he had a 0.0 percent blood alcohol concentration. In this video, a young man's car is searched after a drug dog is allegedly coached to make a false hit:
If you have been arrested as a result of what you believe to be an illegal search, contact a criminal defense lawyer at once. Do not hesitate to get the help you need fighting a charge that resulted from a violation of your constitutional rights.
