Can the Police Pull Me Over Based on an Anonymous Tip?

During your initial interview with a Sacramento DUI defense attorney, he will attempt to determine the legality of the officer’s traffic stop. The reason for this is simple: if the officer’s did not have a valid reason for pulling you over, any charges you received from the stop are invalid.

This matter can become very complex when you were pulled over because of an anonymous tip. The legality of traffic stops based on anonymous tips is still ambiguous, as illustrated by the following court cases:

In Texas, a police officer pulled over a red pick-up truck after receiving an anonymous tip. The tip contained only three pieces of information: that the truck was red, that the truck was traveling in the wrong lane, and that the truck was headed north. The court found the traffic stop to be illegal because the police officer did not personally witness any actual wrongdoing on the part of the driver when he pulled over the vehicle.

In Georgia, the court found an anonymous tip to be insufficient grounds for a traffic stop because there was no reason for the police officer to think that the tip was reliable. The anonymous tipster gave no reason how he would know about the crimes the defendant was allegedly committing.

The legality of a traffic stop is an important and sometimes difficult legal question and you will need an experienced attorney to deal with it. Call today for an initial consultation from experienced Sacramento DUI defense attorney Param Pabla.